Modern Spanish Grammar: A Practical Guide

Talking about changes caused by an action 41.5Gracias a su esfuerzo, Antonio llegó a ser director de la empresa.Thanks to his effort, Antonio became director of the company.Llegó a ser uno de los países más ricos del mundo.It became one of the richest countries in the world.Llegó a ser célebre.He/she became famous. 42.2 (p. 250)41.5Talking about changes caused by an actionAs in English, changes in the subject’s state or condition, which are the direct result ofan action or an event, are usually expressed with quedar, in this context meaning ‘tolook’, ‘to be’, or quedarse, ‘to remain’, ‘to turn’, ‘to be (left)’.41.5.1QuedarMi habitación quedó muy bonita. La pinté yo mismo.My room looked very pretty. I painted it myself.Mamá ha quedado muy bien después de su operación.My mother is very well after her operation.41.5.2QuedarseCuando oyó mi respuesta, se quedó callado.When he heard my reply, he remained silent.Al oír la noticia, se quedó pálida.When she heard the news, she turned pale.In phrases such as ‘to get sad’, ‘to turn pale’, quedarse and ponerse (see 41.1 above)are interchangeable, although quedarse puts more emphasis on the transformationbeing due to an outside agent.Se quedaron/pusieron tristes.Se quedó/puso pálida.They got sad.She turned pale.245Transformations which imply some kind of loss or incapacity usually accept eitherquedar or quedarse:Quedó/se quedó inválido a consecuencia del accidente.He was disabled as a result of the accident.Francisco quedó/se quedó huérfano a los cinco años.Francisco was left an orphan when he was five years old.Quedó/se quedó viudo.He became a widower.Quedó/se quedó soltera.She never married.