desborden

Desborden is the third-person plural present subjunctive form of the Spanish verb desbordar. Desbordar means to overflow, spill over, or exceed a limit or capacity. The present subjunctive desborden is used in subordinate clauses that express doubt, possibility, desire, necessity, or emotion, or after conjunctions that require the subjunctive mood. For example: Es posible que desborden el río si continúa la lluvia. Los técnicos esperan que desborden las reservas de agua para evitar desabastecimiento.

In contrast, the indicative present form is desbordan (they overflow). Desbordar can also appear in other moods and tenses (desborde, desbordó, desbordando, etc.) and has related nouns such as desbordamiento (overflow).

Usage notes: Desborden is common in formal, journalistic, and technical contexts where hypothetical or uncertain outcomes are discussed, such as hydrological forecasts, risk assessments, or policy discussions about capacity and safety. It is a transitive verb and typically takes a direct object referring to liquid, capacity, or figurative limits (for example, "reservas," "caudal," "expectativas").

Etymology: Desbordar is built from the prefix des- (indicating reversal or excess) and a root related to borde/ bordar, with the sense of crossing beyond an edge or boundary.

See also: desbordar, desbordamiento, desbordamiento de ríos, overflow.