Quito las distracciones del escritorio y silencio las notificaciones del teléfono.

I remove distractions from the desk and mute the phone’s notifications.

Breakdown of Quito las distracciones del escritorio y silencio las notificaciones del teléfono.

• yo: I
• de: of
• y: and
• de: from
• el teléfono: the phone
• el escritorio: the desk
• quitar: to remove
• la distracción: the distraction
• silenciar: to mute
• la notificación: the notification

Questions & Answers about Quito las distracciones del escritorio y silencio las notificaciones del teléfono.

Why is it quito and not me quito?

Quitar is only reflexive (quitarse) when you remove something from yourself:

• Me quito la chaqueta. = I take off my jacket (from my body).

In your sentence, you are removing distractions from the desk, not from yourself, so the reflexive pronoun me is not needed:

• Quito las distracciones del escritorio. = I remove the distractions from the desk.

Using me quito here would sound as if you are taking the distractions off of your own body, which is not the idea.

Is quito here related to Quito, the capital of Ecuador?

No. They are just homonyms in writing.

• quito (lowercase) is the 1st person singular of the verb quitar: I remove.
• Quito (capital Q) is the proper noun for the city.

Spanish distinguishes them by capital letter and context, just like march (verb) and March (month) in English.

Why do we say las distracciones and las notificaciones with “las”? In English we usually say just “distractions” and “notifications” without “the”.

Spanish uses the definite article (el, la, los, las) more often than English, especially:

1. For a specific set of things:

   • Las distracciones del escritorio = the (particular) distractions on this desk.
   • Las notificaciones del teléfono = the notifications on this phone.

2. For general categories or types:

   • Las distracciones en el trabajo son un problema.
     (Distractions at work are a problem.)

In English we often drop “the” with plural/general nouns, but in Spanish it’s very common and sounds natural.

You could say:

• Quito distracciones del escritorio.
  This is grammatically fine, but it sounds more vague and less natural here, as if you were speaking in very general terms and not about a known set of distractions.

Could I say unas distracciones instead of las distracciones? What’s the difference?

Yes, but the meaning changes a bit:

• Quito las distracciones del escritorio.
  → I remove the distractions from the desk (the ones we already know about, like your notes, toys, etc.).

• Quito unas distracciones del escritorio.
  → I remove some distractions from the desk (an unspecified number; maybe there are others you didn’t remove).

Unas makes it sound more indefinite and partial. With las, you’re talking about the specific, known distractions in that context.

Why is it del escritorio and not de el escritorio?

Del is just the contraction of de + el:

• de + el escritorio → del escritorio

Spanish always contracts de el into del (and a el into al):

• de el teléfono → del teléfono
• a el parque → al parque

But you do not contract with la, los, las:

• de la mesa (not dela mesa)
• de los libros
• de las personas

Does de here mean “from” or “of”? How should I think about del escritorio?

The preposition de is very flexible in Spanish. It can correspond to English “of,” “from,” “about,” “’s,” etc., depending on context.

• In las distracciones del escritorio, you can understand del escritorio as:
  • “from the desk” (origin/location)
    or
  • “of the desk” (belonging/related)

Both ideas overlap here: the distractions are on / associated with your desk. Translating as “from the desk” works best in English, but in Spanish it’s still just de.

What exactly does escritorio mean here? Desk or computer desktop?

Escritorio has two main meanings:

1. Physical desk (the piece of furniture) – very common meaning.
2. Computer desktop (the main screen or workspace on a computer).

In Latin American Spanish:

• For a physical desk: escritorio.
• For a computer desktop: also escritorio, often in a tech context or as el escritorio de la computadora.

In your sentence:

• Quito las distracciones del escritorio…
  By default this sounds like “I remove the distractions from the (physical) desk.”

If you wanted to make it clearly about a computer desktop, you could say:

• Quito las distracciones del escritorio de la computadora.

Is silencio here really a verb? I thought silencio just meant “silence” (a noun).

Yes, here silencio is a verb form.

• silencio (noun) = silence
• silenciar (verb) = to silence / to mute

The verb silenciar in the present tense:

• yo silencio
• tú silencias
• él / ella silencia
• nosotros silenciamos
• ustedes / ellos silencian

So in your sentence:

• Silencio las notificaciones del teléfono.
  = I silence / I mute the phone notifications.

Context tells you it’s the verb, not the noun.

Is “Silencio las notificaciones del teléfono” natural in Latin American Spanish? How else could you say it?

Yes, it’s correct and understandable, though in everyday speech you’ll also hear other very common options, for example:

• Silencio el teléfono / el celular.
  I silence/mute the phone.

• Pongo el teléfono en silencio.
  I put the phone on silent.

• Silencio las notificaciones.
  I mute the notifications. (The phone is implied.)

All of these are natural in Latin America. Your version is a bit more explicit/formal but perfectly good.

What is the difference between silenciar (silencio) and apagar (apago) with notifications or phones?

Silenciar focuses on muting sound:

• Silencio las notificaciones del teléfono.
  I mute the phone notifications (they still arrive, just without sound).

Apagar focuses on turning off a device or system completely:

• Apago el teléfono.
  I turn off the phone.

With notifications you might hear:

• Desactivo las notificaciones.
  I disable the notifications (they don’t arrive anymore).

So:

• silenciar = stop the sound
• apagar = power off the device
• desactivar = turn off a feature / function (like notifications)

Why is it simple present quito / silencio and not estoy quitando / estoy silenciando?

In Spanish, the simple present is used much more than in English:

• Quito las distracciones… can mean:
  • a habit: I (always) remove the distractions…
  • a plan/instruction: I remove the distractions… (as a step in a routine)

The present progressive (estoy quitando, estoy silenciando) is mainly used when you really want to highlight that the action is happening right now, in progress:

• Ahora mismo estoy quitando las distracciones del escritorio.
  Right now I’m removing the distractions from the desk.

So your sentence in simple present is the most natural form for describing a repeated step or a typical action.

Could I reverse the order: Silencio las notificaciones del teléfono y quito las distracciones del escritorio?

Yes. Coordinating with y (and) allows either order, and both are grammatically correct:

• Quito las distracciones del escritorio y silencio las notificaciones del teléfono.
• Silencio las notificaciones del teléfono y quito las distracciones del escritorio.

Changing the order only affects which action you mention first, not the grammar. Choose based on what you want to emphasize.

Could I use direct object pronouns here, like Las quito del escritorio?

Yes. Once it’s clear what you’re talking about, you can replace the nouns with direct object pronouns:

• Quito las distracciones del escritorio.
  → Las quito del escritorio.
  (las = las distracciones)

• Silencio las notificaciones del teléfono.
  → Las silencio.
  (las = las notificaciones)

A combined version, once the context is known, could be:

• Las quito del escritorio y las silencio en el teléfono.
  I remove them from the desk and mute them on the phone.

This is normal and natural Spanish when the referents are already clear from the previous context.