How to use the verb “quitar” Posted by Adir on Apr 3, 2013 in Spanish Vocabulary
Quitar and sacar are very similar in use and today I will show you how to use quitar correctly.
The first meaning of quitar is to take something off a surface, like when you take off your hat or take the book off a table:
Quita el libro de la mesa. – Take the book off the table.
El anciano se quitó el sombrero. – The old man took off his hat.
Quita la mesa, por favor. – Clear the table, please.
Quitando el queso, me gusta todo. – Apart from cheese, I’ll eat anything
Quitar can also mean to remove or quit doing something:
Se me han quitado los granos de la cara. – My pimples have been removed.
El aguarrás quita las manchas de pintura. – Turpentine removes paint stains.
Han quitado la vigilancia de aquel sition. – They took the security off that place.
Han quitado esa línea de autobús. – They stopped that bus line.
El café me quita el sueño. – Tea keeps me awake.
Fue ella quien me quitó de fumar. – It was her to got me to stop smoking.
Me he quitado de beber. – I’ve stopped drinking.
It can also mean “to take away” or “to steal”:
Le quitaron el dinero a Pablo. – They took the money away from Pablo.
María le quitó el novio a Elena. – María stole Elena’s fiancé.
Me han quitado la billetera en la fiesta. – My walled was stolen at the party.
Did you know it can also mean “to avoid” or “to be an obstacle”?
Esto no quita que vayas a clase. – This doesn’t mean/change the fact that you don’t have to go to class.
Que no estemos de acuerdo en todo no quita que podamos ir de vacaciones juntos. – The fact that we don’t agree in everything doesn’t mean/change the fact that we can’t go on vacation together.
As a pronominal verb it means to “go away”:
Quítate de aquí. – Get out of here.
Some common collocations with quitar:
quitar importancia – to play something down
quitar la palabra – to stop speaking to someone
quitar la razón – to contradict
quitar la vida a alguien – take someone’s life
quitar la vista de – to stop staring at
quitar las ganas – to put someone off something, to go off (the idea of) doing something
quitar tiempo – to take time away from
quitar un peso de encima – to lift a weight off
quitar una multa – to drop a fine
Por hoy es todo, nos vemos prontito.
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Comments:
Kelly:
Hi Adir,
I hope you are well.
Could you please explain to me the construction of quitar using that uses “le” when it means to steal? How is “le” functioning grammatically in the following phrase:
le quitaba las metras a los otros niños
The translation as I understand it would be — “He stole the marbles from the other children” — so why isn’t the Spanish “él (He – subject) quitaba las metras a los otros niños” OR “Les (Them – indirect object) quitaba las metras a los otros niños”?
Thanks for your help with this!
Peace,
Kelly