Quedar frequently suggests that something is a certain way or in a certain position because of some action, and it therefore can be translated in a variety of ways, depending on the context. Often it can be translated as a form of "to be," although there can be the suggestion that something is the way it is because of some event, or that there has been a change of some sort.
Here are some examples of quedar (or its reflexive form, quedarse) in use:
- El pueblo más cerca, Loppiano queda a 5 km, 10 minutes en coche. (The closest town, Loppiano, is five kilometers away, 10 minutes by car.)
- En ese momento quedó roto el diálogo. (At that moment, the dialog came to a halt.)
- Ahora muchos de ellos se han quedado sin trabajo. (Now many of them have become unemployed.
- La recesión ha quedado atrás. (The recession is behind us.)
- Cuando terminas con una relación con tu pareja, ¿quedan como amigos o no se hablan más? (When you break up with your partner, do you become just friends or do you not talk with each other any more?)
- No contestaré las preguntas que me hagan quedar mal. (I won't answer questions that make me look bad.)
- Se pudo observar que miles de peces quedaron muertos en las orillas, como consecuencia de los contaminantes. (It was observed that thousands of fishes were dead on the shore as a result of the pollution.)
- Es lo único que me queda por saber. (It's the only thing left for me to know.)
- Después del programa me quedé hablando con el productor. (After the program I kept on talking with the producer.)
- Brasil e Italia se quedaron con el 2-0. (Brazil and Italy ended up with a 2-0 score.)
