Spanish · Emotions & Descriptions

"Quiet" in Spanish: callado/a

callado/a

Say it: kah-YAH-doh / kah-YAH-dahadjective/ka.ˈʝa.ðo/, /ka.ˈʝa.ða/

Quiet in Spanish is callado or callada for a quiet person. Él está callado. Ella está callada. Plurals: callados and calladas.

In a library

Por favor, quédate callado.
Please stay quiet.
Practice Spanish out loud

Speak with an AI partner · 7 days free

How to pronounce callado/a

Say it

kah-YAH-doh / kah-YAH-dah

/ka.ˈʝa.ðo/, /ka.ˈʝa.ða/

kah-YAH-doh / kah-YAH-dah. Stress YAH. Ll like y in yes.

"Quiet" in Spanish: quick reference

SpanishEnglish
calladoquiet (masc.)

A person who is not talking.

calladaquiet (fem.)

Feminine form.

estar callado/ato be quiet / silent

Current silence.

quédate callado/astay quiet

Instruction.

How to use callado/a in real life

  1. 1In a library

    Por favor, quédate callado.

    Please stay quiet.

    Callado for a man addressed.

  2. 2About a classmate

    Ana está callada en la clase.

    Ana is quiet in class.

    Callada agrees with Ana.

  3. 3Group hush

    Niños, estén callados un momento.

    Kids, be quiet for a moment.

    Callados plural.

Mistakes English speakers make with callado/a

Incorrect: Ella está callado.

Correct: Ella está callada.

Agree gender: callada with ella.

Incorrect: Ellos están callada.

Correct: Ellos están callados.

Use masculine plural callados for ellos.

Good to know

Callado/a usually describes a quiet person, not a quiet room. For a quiet place, Latin American Spanish often uses tranquilo/a or silencioso/a.

Try it in a ChatPal conversation

Waiting for a movie to start

  1. ChatPal

    Estás muy callado hoy. ¿Todo bien?

    You're very quiet today. Everything okay?

  2. You

    Sí. Solo estoy callado porque estoy cansado.

    Yes. I'm just quiet because I'm tired.

  3. ChatPal

    Está bien estar callado a veces.

    It's okay to be quiet sometimes.

  4. You

    Cuando empiece la película, hablo menos.

    When the movie starts, I'll talk less.

This is a sample. In ChatPal you have this conversation out loud and get feedback on what you say.

Practice this conversation in ChatPal

"Quiet" in other languages

FAQ

Common questions about "Quiet" in Spanish

How does gender work?

Callado (m.), callada (f.), plurals callados / calladas.

Quiet place or quiet person?

Callado/a is usually the person. For places, try tranquilo/a.

Ser or estar?

Estar callado for silence now. Ser callado for a quiet personality.

How do I say be quiet?

Estate callado / Estate callada. Soft tone helps.

Learn a word, then use it out loud

  1. Step 1: See it in context
  2. Step 2: Say it out loud
  3. Step 3: Get feedback
  4. Step 4: Use it in real scenarios

Keep reading

Ready to say it out loud?

ChatPal is a voice-first app for practicing real conversations in Spanish. Try real scenarios and get personalized feedback on your speaking.

Start with 7 days free.