Do you use the imperfect or preterite when using quedar to mean “to fit”? Examples: Esta camisa no me quedó/quedaba. Another example: Él vendió los pantalones porque no le quedaron/quedaban. One more: Me gustaron los que me quedaron/quedaban. Thanks!

Answers

skeletor

30 Nov 2020

Spanish (Mexico)
Spanish (Spain)

@NackT573 yes , both are correct

Highly-rated answerer

zoilagd

30 Nov 2020

Spanish (Spain)

Yes you could use it, depending on the context. In fact I think we use more the imperfect than the perfect. Also, for saying that something fits somebody, you should add "bien" after quedar.

For example:

✅ Esta camisa no me quedaba bien y por eso la devolví.
〰️ Esta camisa no me quedaba y por eso la devolví.

The second one is not incorrect, you could say it and people would understand you because of the context, the "bien" is implied. But the complete and correct way is "quedar bien".

Another example:
- What do you think about this dress?
- It fits you.

- ¿Qué piensas de este vestido?
- Te queda ❌/ Te queda bien ✅

In this case you can't omit "bien", otherwise the answer would be incomplete.

Highly-rated answerer

NackT573

30 Nov 2020

English (US)

@zoilagd I knew about the bien rule, but I omitted it just for simplicity. So if i went into a store and said “Devuelvo esta camisa porque no me quedó bien,” that would be just as correct as “Devuelvo esta camisa porque no me quedaba bien”? I could see the reason for both, as the first one to me seems to imply that i tried it on once and it didn’t fit, while the second seems to imply that i would sometimes try on the shirt but something just seemed off about its size. Please correct me if this assumption about their nuances is wrong!