aún

Aún is a Spanish adverb that primarily means todavía or still, and it can also convey the sense of incluso or even. It is widely used to indicate continuity in time, as in aún ahora, or to intensify a comparison, as in aún más. In addition to its adverbial use, aún can appear in certain set phrases where it functions as a conjunction meaning even when or even though, although in those cases the use of the tilde is often advised to avoid ambiguity.

Etymology and variants: la tilde on u marks the adverbial sense of todavía. The word is traditionally traced to Latin adhuc, which carried a similar meaning. In normative spelling, the form with syllable-timed accent, aún, is preferred when the meaning is "todavía" or "incluso." The unaccented aun exists in some varieties and, in practice, is more common in conjunctional or fixed expressions such as aun cuando or aun así, though many writers also use the accented form in those contexts to prevent confusion.

Usage notes: The distinction between aún and aun is primarily orthographic. Aún is used to express temporal continuity or emphasis: Aún no lo he hecho. Aún más sorprendente fue la noticia. In expressions like aun cuando or aun así, the accent may be kept to signal the adverbial origin, but omission of the tilde is not uncommon in informal writing. Regional preferences influence whether the accent is retained.

See also: accentuation rules in Spanish, disambiguation practices, difference between todavía and ya.