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I want to know if all the following sentences are acceptable as translations for

My friends want us to meet up.

Some contain the subjunctive, one does not.

  1. Mis amigas quieren que nos reunamos (subj.)

  2. Mis amigas quieren reunirnos.

  3. Mis amigas quieren que nos encontremos (subj.)

  4. Mis amigas quieren que quedemos (subj.)

I wonder if number 2 is correct because another similar example may be used e.g. Quiero hablarte.

Am I correct with all of them or only some?

2 Answers 2

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Sentences (1) and (3):

  1. Mis amigas quieren que nos reunamos.
  1. Mis amigas quieren que nos encontremos.

are correct and similar in meaning. They are also equally ambiguous, both in English and in Spanish -- does "us" (or "nos") include "my friends" (or "mis amigas") or not?

(2) is also correct but different from (1) and (3) in that it is not ambiguous:

  1. Mis amigas quieren reunirnos.

as in this case "nos" does not include my friends. A possible context would be that the girls want some other people (including the speaker) to reunite.

Sentence (4):

  1. Mis amigas quieren que quedemos.

sounds incomplete to me, except in some very specific context, like "quedar en un concurso" (remain in a competition).

If the intention is to say My friends want us to stay we should remember that this use of the verb is pronominal in Spanish:

  1. Mis amigas quieren que nos quedemos.

Again, it is unclear whether the first person plural includes "mis amigas" or not.

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  • 1
    great answers. Just 1 thing, with "quedar" I want to express to meet rather than to remain. Therefore,should it be "quedarse". Thanks
    – Bluelion7
    Jan 31, 2021 at 21:25
  • 2
    "quieren que nos quedemos" means "want us to stay". If you want to say "meet" rather than "stay", you should use sentences 1 and 3.
    – Gustavson
    Jan 31, 2021 at 21:32
  • 1
    @Bluelion7 ‘Mis amigas quieren que quedemos’ would make sense if you said eg ‘Mis amigas quieren que quedemos a las cuatro
    – Traveller
    Feb 1, 2021 at 10:22
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    @Bluelion7 Number 4 is perfectly fine, it does not sound incomplete from my point of view. According to the DLE: quedar - 8. intr. Concertar una cita.
    – RubioRic
    Feb 1, 2021 at 12:04
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    It does work in Spain. "¿Quedamos?" "¿Porqué no quedamos?" "A ver si quedamos" are common sentences here. "Mis amigas quieren que quedemos pero estoy hasta arriba de trabajo y no podré hasta después de Semana Santa". You can split that complex sentence and separate them into more simple ones or include directly OP option in a dialog. "- Mis amigas quieren que quedemos - ¿Cuándo? - Cuando pase la pandemia"
    – RubioRic
    Feb 1, 2021 at 13:18
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"Quedar" is the most common use in Spain in informal environments, typically with friends.

  1. Mis amigas quieren que quedemos.

(4) is what any teenager would tell her mother, who would use a standard reply: "Vale, pero termina antes los deberes y no vuelvas tarde".

Any other of the options would be suspicious to a mother.

  1. Mis amigas quieren que nos reunamos.

(1) implies there is some special meeting, may be to make an important decision. Any mother would want to investigate further, so no teenager would say this unless she is willing to explain why.

  1. Mis amigas quieren que nos encontremos.

(3) is correct but seldom used. Her mother would think about her daughter's language for the rest of the day.

  1. Mis amigas quieren reunirnos.

(2) has a different meaning. As if your friends wanted to put you and some others in a place, like cattle, for example. Mother really concerned.

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  • Using intransitive "quedar" without a complement may be the most common use in Spain, but according to DPD it should be completed with a complement: rae.es/dpd/quedar c) Con el sentido de ‘acordar’, se construye hoy normalmente con un complemento introducido por en: «Quedamos en que la reina sería Melusa»
    – Gustavson
    Feb 2, 2021 at 17:35
  • Talking about the many meanings and best uses of "quedar" is off topic. @Bluelion7 's question is "if all the following sentences are acceptable as translations for <<My friends want us to meet up>>". In the context of Spain, #4 is not only an acceptable translation, but also the most frequent in informal environments.
    – aerobiomat
    Feb 3, 2021 at 16:18
  • I don't see why talking about the different uses of "quedar" should be off topic. Dictionaries tend to be the best source to ensure a correct translation, and that is what OP was asking for.
    – Gustavson
    Feb 3, 2021 at 16:27
  • Now I'm going off topic: "quiero quedar con mis amigas" is very common and has the required complement. But when the subject is the same as the complement the result would be something like "mis amigas quieren quedar con mis amigas" which sounds very strange, so "mis amigas quieren quedar" is natural and frequent.
    – aerobiomat
    Feb 3, 2021 at 16:35
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    It's good to have learnt that that use is correct in Spain. Here it sounds completely wrong.
    – Gustavson
    Feb 3, 2021 at 16:51

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