Deeper insight on todavía vs aún

Question

Deeper insight on todavía vs aún

I have read a number of old posts on todavía vs aún, and while I appreciate all the effort that has been applied to this, I am still confused about how to know when to prefer one term over the other. I get the sense that they are often interchangeable, but not always.

I would love some deeper insight and guidance from a native speaker on this. Thanks.

Some Previous Posts (for reference):

• Picture of the day: Here's looking at you, kid. (See Ray76's post)
• Todavía & aún
• aún o todavía?
• todavía vs. aún
• What is the difference between aun, aún, and todavía?

I have edited the reference list above to include yesterday's Picture of the Day post... see Ray76's post. Daniela suggests he prefer todavía for his sentence—no doubt, with good reason. - jrschenk, Jan 2, 2016

I did not originally include this reference because the post is not todavía vs aún centric, but it is the entry that drove me to write this question. - jrschenk, Jan 2, 2016

I have always found this confusing mate , thanks for posting this , we need this kind of thing to keep us on our toes . - ray76, Jan 2, 2016

A number of people that I regard to be extremly credible on this topic have now responded, and essentially agreed that the words are interchangeable, though some "sound better" in certain contexts. I wish a could vote each the best answer... Ian was 1st. - jrschenk, Jan 2, 2016

Nice post, J R! This is truly a mini-lesson for me. - Jubilado, Jan 2, 2016

Answer 1

I had never even thought about it before.

Two of them seem to be interchangeable. Whereas "Aun" seems to used only for "even"

WE need native speakers for this.

These sentences are from my dictionary.

Esta me gusta aún más. / I like this one even better.

¿Aún estás aquí? / Are you still here?

¿Todavía vives en Londres? / Do you still live in London?

Ella pinta todavía mejor. / She paints even better.

He still hasn’t done it. / Aún no lo ha hecho.

He still can’t do it. / Todavía no sabe hacerlo.

Aun habiéndolo sabido no se lo habría dicho. / Even if I’d known about it, I wouldn’t have told him.

And

I haven’t received a letter from him yet. / Todavía no he recibido carta suya.

Don’t go yet. / No te vayas todavía.

Ian, gracias. Todavía must have unique uses as well. I have edited the reference list above to include yesterday's Picture of the Day post... see Ray76's post. Daniela suggests he prefer todavía for his sentence—no doubt, with good reason. :) - jrschenk, Jan 2, 2016

PS Of course I appreciate the samples you provided above. Thank you for them, and your effort. - jrschenk, Jan 2, 2016

@ Ian, I think ' ännu' in Swedish works well for aún whereas todavía is ' fortfarande'. - annierats, Jan 2, 2016

I don't know how that compares to the Danish , I don't speak Danish, but it's probably very similar. - annierats, Jan 2, 2016

As they usually are Annie. With some notable exceptions of course :) - ian-hill, Jan 2, 2016

"endnu" in Danish. - ian-hill, Jan 2, 2016

Answer 2

Exactly what Ian states.

We have problems in Spanish to to differentiate in writing from "aún" or "aun", we do use "todavía" and "aún/aun" interchangeable.

Hence, we also have problems with "yet", "still" and "even"

Gracias, Chileno. I appreciate your candor, and I feel a little relieved of my frustration. ;) - jrschenk, Jan 2, 2016

I can't give any reason for my choice, some expressions just "sound" better I guess. - Daniela2041, Jan 2, 2016

Daniela, you don't need to have a reason beyond that, as that is reason enough to coax someone to prefer one term over another. :) - jrschenk, Jan 2, 2016

Just like in English... ;) - chileno, Jan 4, 2016

Sí. :) - jrschenk, Jan 4, 2016

Answer 3

Below the usages of aun the RAE makes only one notation about aún when it is used as a substitute for todavía:

"ORTOGR. Escr. con acento cuando pueda sustituirse por todavía. Aún ('todavía') está enfermo. En los demás casos, se escribirá sin tilde. Te daré 100 duros, y aun ('hasta') 200, si los necesitas. No tengo yo tanto, ni aun ('ni siquiera') la mitad."

I am inclined to believe that the history of the usage is that aún appeared well after the words todavía and aun were already established, but I might be wrong. In the end, it´s like Daniela said: "some expressions just ´sound´ better" (depending on other words in the phrase). Also keep in mind that when we think things "sound better / right" it´s really because this is what have heard while growing up.

Like the others, thank you for taking the time to take a position on this. I completely understand "It just sounds better" because it is the more-common way to say a thing. We do it in english all the time. Gracias, Julian. ;) - jrschenk, Jan 2, 2016