Timeline for Understanding ya vs. todavía vs. aún
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
9 events
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| Jul 20, 2018 at 6:47 | comment | added | Lisa Beck | For anyone who may be confused or not that familiar with the use of intensifiers (in English or Spanish), this example I recently found may help clarify its meaning with respect to the adverb "aun". If you were to see the phrase "más extraño" you would know that someone was making a comparison -- something is "stranger" relative to something else. But someone who writes "aun más extraño" is using "aun" to intensify whatever it is they are describing. Whatever it is that they are describing isn't just stranger, it's much stranger. | |
| Jul 20, 2018 at 6:04 | comment | added | Lisa Beck | @MichaelWolf (and anyone else who may be interested): You didn't ask about this, but in the process of trying to figure out the differences between "aún" and "aun", I came upon the phrases "aún así" and "aun así". As I understand it, the same meanings discussed earlier still apply, but it looks as if even native speakers get these two confused as evidenced by the fact that El País includes an entry for it in its style guide. You can see for yourself at this link here: goo.gl/dhfzwx. | |
| Jul 20, 2018 at 4:57 | comment | added | Lisa Beck | @MichaelWolf Complicating matters is the fact that “even” is not an exact equivalent of “still,” which corresponds better with “even now,” “even so,” or “even though.” In the second example – aun – correlates with “even” when “even” is used as an intensive,* (WARNING: PROFANITY/STRONG LANGUAGE at this link) and this equates to the American Heritage dictionary’s meaning of “even” when used as an adverb. (See meaning 1.b. in the 3rd edition of the American Heritage dictionary, print version.) | |
| Jul 20, 2018 at 4:55 | comment | added | Lisa Beck | @MichaelWolf … I have come to the conclusion that when you write/say "Aún cuando había pagado", you are conveying this: "S/he/Ud. still hadn't paid." When you write/say "Aun cuando había pagado", you convey this: "S/he/Ud. hadn't even paid." The first, with accent, is equivalent to “todavía” (still). | |
| Jul 20, 2018 at 4:30 | comment | added | Lisa Beck | Good question, @MichaelWolf and I'm sorry nobody has taken a stab at answering it yet (or not via this comments section anyway), but let me give it a try. Admittedly, I had to read your question a couple of times before I could answer. You wrote your question clearly enough, but the answer to your question is somewhat complicated. However, after visiting this site here: campusvirtual.ull.es/ocw/pluginfile.php/4162/mod_resource/… ... | |
| Sep 4, 2014 at 18:54 | comment | added | Michael Wolf | Do you have a reference for "Aún cuando había pagado...."? I'd have written it without the accent. But on further reflection, I wonder if both aun and aún could be correct, depending on what you're trying to say, with aun making your unfulfilled expectation prominent and aún emphasazing the sequence of events. | |
| Mar 10, 2014 at 16:36 | history | edited | Aritz Lopez | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Improved formatting
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| Oct 6, 2012 at 14:35 | review | First posts | |||
| Oct 9, 2012 at 14:52 | |||||
| Oct 6, 2012 at 14:33 | history | answered | Aritz Lopez | CC BY-SA 3.0 |