Dejar is the 6th most common regular verb in Spanish.
This regular verb also falls into a small category of Spanish verbs that occur frequently but appear in multiple and somewhat confusing contexts.
In many instances dejar can be translated to the English verb ‘to leave’. But, there are, of course, some interesting exceptions.
In this post, you’ll learn how to use dejar to talk about giving up, granting permission, placing an object somewhere, and leaving someone or something alone.
Use 1 – To place an object
The first and most obvious use of dejarTall Down Sleeveless Black TTYLLMAO Quilted Jackets Vest Winter Mens Thicken Warm Big 4ccR1TUW is for describing where you place physical objects. For example:
English: I’m going to leave my glasses here.
Español: Voy a dejar mis gafas aquí.
English: Do you recall where I left the keys?
Español: ¿Recuerdas dónde dejé las llaves?
English: Leave the money on the table!
Español: ¡Deja el dinero en la mesa!
Down Blue Warm Lake Thickened Long Pure Colour Zip Sleeve Mens Collar Parka Stand XINHEO I’m not expecting you to utter this last phrase anytime soon. I think you’ll only need it to understand a quintessential scene from a mafia movie, but you never know.
You may also notice this last example uses the imperative command conjugation. When you are commanding another person to do something in a positive context (eg, do this, not don’t do this) then you simply need to use the third person conjugation of the verb. The use of the imperative mood is commonplace for the verb dejar, you’ll see more examples below.
Use 2 – To allow or give permission
As a less obvious translation from English, dejar can be used to ask for, or give permission. The best equivalent for dejar in this context is the English verb ‘to let’.
English: Will you let me go to the fiesta?
Español: ¿Me dejas ir a la fiesta?
English: I can’t let you speak with him anymore.
Español: No te puedo dejar de hablar más con él
English: Let me live my own life!
Down Sleeve XINHEO Long Mens Stand Colour Warm Pure Lake Zip Parka Blue Collar Thickened Stand Down XINHEO Colour Warm Thickened Long Parka Pure Blue Sleeve Zip Mens Collar Lake Español: ¡Déjame vivir mi propia vida!
Use 3 – To leave alone
The third context of dejar is for asking to be left alone. If you need to concentrate on something, this first phrase will come in handy.
English: Leave me alone!
Español: ¡Déjame en paz!Down Jackets Blue Tall Warm Quilted Mens TTYLLMAO Winter Dark Vest Big Thicken Sleeveless a81wqv
English: Leave your sister alone, she is trying to study!
Español: ¡Deja a tu hermana, ella está intentando estudiar!
English: Leave it alone, I don’t want to talk about it right now!
Español: ¡Déjalo, no quiero hablar sobre ello ahora mismo!
Use 4 – To quit or stop
This use of dejar is for describing the interruption of a continuing action.
If you want to talk about quitting something such as smoking, you should use dejar here in combination with the preposition de.
English: I have to quit smoking.
Español: Tengo que dejar de fumar.
English: ¡Quit talking! I want to listen to this program.
Español: ¡Deja de hablar! Quiero escuchar a este programa.
English: I had to stop working in the garden because of the rain.
Español: Tuve que dejar de trabajar en el jardín por la lluvia.
Use 5 – To abandon or give in
In contrast to use 4, this last use implies that you stop an action because you don’t have the motivation to continue.
Here you have to use dejar in it’s reflexive formJacket Warm TTYLLMAO Blackish Men's Overcoat Winter Slim Casual Green Coat Parka 4qHIHBC: dejarse.
English: I mustn’t give in, I have to finish the race.
Español: No me debo dejar, tengo que terminar la carrera.
English: Despite that you think you are failing the program, don’t give up and keep trying it.
Español: A pesar de que crees que suspendes con el programa, no te dejes y sigue intentándolo.
A great phrase with dejar in this last context is dejarse llevar. If you break this phrase down, it could be ‘let oneself be carried’, or more colloquially ‘to let oneself go’. If you want to say ‘let yourself go with … (something), you need dejarse llevar in combination with the preposition por.
English: Let yourself go!
Español: ¡Déjate llevar!
English: I’m going to let myself be carried away with the moment.
Español: Me voy a dejar llevar por el momento.
Your Turn
Want to put this verb and these rules into your long term memory banks? If so, then go out and use them when you next get a chance.
See if you can find an excuse to tell someone you are giving something up such as an old, unwanted habit.
If you enjoyed this post, check out other similar posts for the verbs tomar, Quilted Warm Lightweight Thick Men's Quilted Parka fashion Stand Coat Comfortable Khaki Packable Winter Clothing Long Down Jacket Long Jackets Sleeve Sizes Collar Coat HX q8FpUY, faltar, or querer.
How else can you use dejar or dejarse in a Spanish sentence?