Why Quitar Is More Than "To Remove"
Quitar is the verb of taking something away: an object, a feeling, a piece of clothing, even your sleep. It is regular and very common in everyday speech.
Its reflexive form quitarse is how you take something off yourself or shake something off. For more on reflexive verbs, see Reflexive Verbs Chunks. Learn the six chunks below and you will use it correctly from day one.
Pattern 1: Quitar algo — "To take something away"
The basic meaning. Use de for where you take it from, and me, te, le for the person it is taken from. The same chunk covers removing a thing and confiscating it.
- Quita eso de la mesa. — Take that off the table.
- Me quitaron el teléfono. — They took my phone away.
- ¿Puedes quitar los platos? — Can you clear the dishes?
Chunk to learn:
Quitar + [algo] (de + lugar) / Quitarle algo a alguien
Pattern 2: Quitarse la ropa — "To take off your clothes"
Use quitarse for anything you wear: coat, shoes, glasses, jewelry. The opposite is ponerse; see [Poner] Chunks. Spanish uses the article (los zapatos), not "my."
- Quítate los zapatos, por favor. — Take off your shoes, please.
- Me quito el abrigo. — I'm taking off my coat.
- Se quitó las gafas para dormir. — He took off his glasses to sleep.
Chunk to learn:
Quitarse + [los zapatos / el abrigo / las gafas]
Pattern 3: Quitar el sueño / el hambre — "To take away sleepiness / hunger"
Quitar works for feelings and sensations, and the person who feels it is me, te, le. Watch out: me quita el sueño also means something worries you so much that you cannot sleep.
- El café me quita el sueño. — Coffee keeps me awake.
- Una manzana me quita el hambre. — An apple takes the edge off my hunger.
- Esa preocupación me quita el sueño. — That worry keeps me up at night.
Chunk to learn:
Quitar + [el sueño / el hambre / el dolor / el miedo]
Pattern 4: Quitar tiempo — "To take up time"
Use it to say something is eating your time, and to politely ask for a little of someone else's. ¿Te quito un minuto? is the natural way to interrupt.
- Esto me quita mucho tiempo. — This takes up a lot of my time.
- No quiero quitarte tiempo. — I don't want to take up your time.
- Perdona, ¿te quito un minuto? — Sorry, can I borrow a minute?
Chunk to learn:
Quitar tiempo / ¿Te quito un minuto?
Pattern 5: Quitarse un peso de encima — "To get a weight off your shoulders"
Spanish puts the weight de encima ("from on top"), not on the shoulders. Use it when you feel relieved after finishing, confessing, or deciding something.
- Me quité un peso de encima. — That's a weight off my shoulders.
- Con el examen terminado, se quitó un peso de encima. — With the exam over, a weight came off his shoulders.
- No me puedo quitar esa canción de la cabeza. — I can't get that song out of my head.
Chunk to learn:
Quitarse un peso de encima / Quitarse algo de la cabeza
Pattern 6: Quítate de ahí — "Get out of the way"
A very colloquial command with de plus the place to leave. It is blunt, so you will mostly hear it among family and friends. Its cousin quita, quita means "move over, let me do it." For déjame, see [Dejar] Chunks.
- ¡Quítate de ahí, que te vas a caer! — Get away from there, you're going to fall!
- Quítate de en medio, por favor. — Get out of the way, please.
- Quita, déjame a mí. — Move over, let me do it.
Chunk to learn:
Quítate de + [ahí / en medio] / Quita, déjame a mí
Quitar vs. Sacar
Quitar takes something away or off; sacar takes something out; see [Sacar] Chunks. Quita la tapa removes the lid, while saca la pizza del horno takes it out of a container. If the thing leaves a place or a person, think quitar.
Start with quítate los zapatos and ¿te quito un minuto?. You will use both within a day of speaking Spanish at home or with friends.
This post is part of the Spanish Chunk Series — a growing collection of chunk patterns for natural Spanish.