Spanish Phrase
Quédate con ellos hasta que llegue la ayuda.
Meaning
‘Stay with them until help arrives.’ The speaker is asking someone to remain in the company of a group of people while they wait for assistance, often in an emergency or supportive situation.
When to use
Use this sentence when you want to tell someone to stay with a group (e.g., victims, patients, friends) until rescue workers, medical staff, or any form of aid arrives. It works in both informal spoken contexts and semi‑formal instructions.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Quédateconelloshastaquelleguelaayuda
Imperative (reflexive) – Quédate
Use the informal affirmative command of the reflexive verb quedarse. The pronoun -te is attached to the verb and the stress‑keeping accent is required.
Conjunction – hasta que + subjunctive
When ‘hasta que’ introduces a future or uncertain event, the verb that follows must be in the subjunctive mood.
Subjunctive mood – llegue
‘Llegue’ is the present subjunctive of llegar, used here because the arrival of help is not yet guaranteed.
Preposition con + pronoun
‘Con’ indicates accompaniment; ‘ellos’ is the third‑person plural pronoun meaning ‘them.’
Definite article – la ayuda
‘La’ specifies a particular help or assistance that is expected to arrive.
🗨In Conversation
¿Qué hago mientras llegan los paramédicos?
What should I do while the paramedics are coming?
Quédate con ellos hasta que llegue la ayuda.
Stay with them until help arrives.
✕Common Mistakes
Quédate con ellos hasta que llega la ayuda.
The verb after ‘hasta que’ must be in the subjunctive, not the indicative.
Quedate con ellos hasta que llegue la ayuda.
Missing the accent on the ‘á’ changes the stress and makes the word orthographically incorrect.
Quédate con ella hasta que llegue la ayuda.
Using ‘con ellos’ with a wrong pronoun (e.g., ‘con ella’) changes the meaning; make sure the pronoun matches the group you refer to.
↔Alternatives
Quédate con ellos hasta que llegue el socorro.
Stay with them until rescue arrives.
Quédate con ellos hasta que llegue la asistencia.
Stay with them until assistance arrives.
Quédate con ellos hasta que llegue el auxilio.
Stay with them until aid arrives.
Cultural Tip
In most Spanish‑speaking countries the informal command ‘quédate’ is perfectly natural among friends or peers; in a formal setting you would use ‘quédese’. Also, the subjunctive after ‘hasta que’ is a subtle cue that the event is still pending – native speakers expect it, and using the indicative (llega) sounds ungrammatical.