Every day we communicate with other people, we see with friends or we meet people. Do you know what verbs are used in Spanish to describe these meetings?
In our Spanish language school we spend a lot of time in social interaction. We encourage our students to get to know the local people and not be afraid to talk to them. In addition, knowing the local people is very important to learn Spanish. However, in Spanish there are several verbs that are used to describe how to meet people. Today we are going to talk about the differences between verbs “quedar”, “quedarse”, “conocer” and “encontarse”.
Quedar
“Quedar” is one of the most used verbs in Spanish and one of the most confusing to students. It is used to arrange an appointment or meeting with one or several people, usually with a playful purpose. Example:
–“He quedado con Tim a las 10 delante de la escuela” (I’m meeting Tim at 10 in front of the school”)
Quedarse
“Quedarse” is totally different, almost opposed to “quedar”. It means not moving from one place. Example:
–“¿Sales esta noche?” (Are you going out tonight?)
-“No, estoy cansado… creo que me quedo en casa.” (No, I’m tired… I think I’m staying in)
Conocer
We use “conocer” the first time we have contact with someone and we introduce ourselves. Example:
“Ayer conocí a mucha gente en la fiesta”. (Yesterday I met a lot of people at the party).
Encontrarse
“Encontrarse”, on the other hand, implies that people did not plan to see each other. Example:
–“Estaba comprando en una tienda y me he encontrado con Deborah.” (I was in a shop and I bumped into Deborah)
The typical errors
Now let’s review some frequent mistakes of students with these verbs and correct them.
-I’m meeting Tom after the class to go to the beach.
–Yo voy a encontrar a Tom después de clase para ir a la playa. WRONG.
–Yo he quedado con Tom después de clase para ir a la playa. RIGHT.
-Yesterday I met some friendly Italian guys at the club.
–Ayer encontré unos chicos italianos muy simpáticos en la discoteca. WRONG.
–Ayer conocí a unos chicos italianos muy simpáticos en la discoteca. RIGHT.
-Yesterday I didn’t feel like going out so I stayed in.
–Ayer no me apetecía salir así que quedé en casa. WRONG.
–Ayer no me apetecía salir así que me quedé en casa. RIGHT.
-Do you want to meet tonight?
–¿Quieres encontrar esta noche? WRONG.
–¿Quieres quedar esta noche? RIGHT.
We hope our post will be useful for you. If you have more questions, sign up for our courses in Valencia where we explain everything in more detail.
