Is it always safe to use "me quedé" and "estaba" interchangeably as in below example?
Me quedé triste...
I was sad...
vs
Estaba triste...
I was sad...
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Yo diría que no, que depende del contexto. Por ejemplo spanish.stackexchange.com/questions/417/…– TravellerCommented Mar 25, 2019 at 7:03
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Alguien ha cambiado la pregunta - antes el adjetivo era ‘temerario’.– TravellerCommented Mar 26, 2019 at 6:52
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@Traveller you can find the edit history by clicking on the message which says edited X hours ago. In this case the OP edited the change of adjective.– mdeweyCommented Mar 26, 2019 at 12:11
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1 Answer
Actually, both sentences:
- Me quedé temerario.
and
- Estaba temerario.
sound very odd (if not altogether wrong), because “temerario” suggests a permanent quality, as in:
- En esa época era temerario (In those days I was/used to be reckless)
or an occasional state, as in:
- En esa oportunidad fui temerario (I was reckless on that occasion)
We tend to use “quedarse” and “estar” with temporary, durative states (this duration contrasts with the occasional nature expressed by sentence 4 above, where the person showed recklessness for a limited period of time).
Me quedé asustado. (This refers to the action of becoming scared, as in: Me quedé asustado después del asalto, I got scared after the robbery)
Estaba asustado. (This refers to feeling frightened, but no mention is made of the moment when the feeling started, and can be translated as: I was (feeling) scared.)
If reference is made to a state that started and ended in the past, then “estuve” will be used:
- Estuve asustado mucho tiempo. (I was scared for a long time.)
answered Mar 25, 2019 at 18:31
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1The OP has edited the question so this answer refers to a previous version, not the current one.– mdeweyCommented Mar 26, 2019 at 12:12