Como no desatasquen hoy el desagüe, llamaré otra vez a la propietaria mañana temprano.

Breakdown of Como no desatasquen hoy el desagüe, llamaré otra vez a la propietaria mañana temprano.

yo
I
hoy
today
a
to
temprano
early
mañana
tomorrow
ellos
they
no
not
otra vez
again
llamar
to call
la propietaria
the owner
como
if
el desagüe
the drain
desatascar
to unclog

Questions & Answers about Como no desatasquen hoy el desagüe, llamaré otra vez a la propietaria mañana temprano.

Why does como mean if here?

At the start of a sentence, como can introduce a condition with a strong warning-like tone. In this pattern, Como no + subjunctive + result, it means if ... not or unless.

So here Como no desatasquen... is not how, as, or I eat. It is a conditional opener: If they/you don’t unclog...

Why is desatasquen in the subjunctive?

Because the first clause is talking about a future, uncertain condition.

Spanish often uses the subjunctive after conditional expressions when the action has not happened yet and is being presented as a possibility. With como no in this kind of warning, the normal pattern is:

  • Como no + present subjunctive, future/result clause

So Como no desatasquen hoy el desagüe, llamaré... means If they/you don’t unclog the drain today, I’ll call...

Who is the subject of desatasquen?

By itself, desatasquen could mean either:

That is because the ellos/ellas and ustedes forms are identical.

In Spain, this matters because informal plural would normally be vosotros, so if you were speaking directly to workers informally, you would usually say desatasquéis, not desatasquen.

Why not use si no instead of como no?

You could use si no, but the tone is a bit different.

  • Si no desatascan/desatasquen hoy el desagüe, llamaré... = a more neutral if not
  • Como no desatasquen hoy el desagüe, llamaré... = more forceful, more like a warning or a firm consequence

So como no often sounds more emphatic, especially when the speaker is annoyed or drawing a line.

Is this sentence sounding like a warning or a threat?

Yes, very much so.

The structure Como no..., llamaré... often sounds like:

  • If this doesn’t happen, then I will do X
  • a complaint
  • a warning
  • a statement of consequences

It is not necessarily an aggressive threat, but it does sound firmer and more impatient than a plain factual condition.

Why is it llamaré and not voy a llamar?

Both are possible.

  • Llamaré is the simple future and sounds a bit more direct, compact, and definite.
  • Voy a llamar is also very common and can sound slightly more immediate or conversational.

In this sentence, llamaré fits well because it states the consequence clearly: If they don’t fix it today, I’ll call again tomorrow morning.

Why is there a comma after desagüe?

Because the sentence begins with a subordinate conditional clause.

Spanish normally puts a comma after an introductory clause like this:

  • Como no desatasquen hoy el desagüe, ...
  • Si vienes mañana, ...
  • Cuando llegue, ...

So the comma separates the condition from the main clause.

Why is it a la propietaria? What is that a doing there?

That a is used before a person. With llamar a alguien, Spanish normally includes a before the person being called.

So:

  • llamar a la propietaria
  • llamar a mi madre
  • llamar al fontanero

This is related to the personal a, although with llamar learners often just remember the pattern llamar a alguien.

Would the pronoun be la or le for la propietaria?

In standard usage for call someone by phone, the direct-object pronoun is usually la for a woman:

  • La llamaré mañana temprano.

That is because the person called is generally treated as the direct object. You may hear some variation in real-life Spanish, but for a learner, la llamaré is the safest standard choice here.

What exactly is desatasquen from? How is it formed?

It comes from the verb desatascar, which means to unclog or to unblock.

The form desatasquen is the present subjunctive of desatascar for ellos/ellas/ustedes.

Very roughly:

  • infinitive: desatascar
  • yo present: desatasco
  • present subjunctive stem: desatasqu-
  • ellos/ustedes subjunctive ending: -en
  • result: desatasquen

The qu appears to preserve the hard c/k sound before e.

What is desagüe, and why does it have ü?

Desagüe means drain, outlet, or drainpipe, depending on context.

The ü shows that the u must be pronounced. Without the diaeresis, gue would normally sound like ge, with the u silent. But in güe, the u is heard.

So desagüe is pronounced roughly like deh-SAH-gweh.

Why is it mañana temprano and not temprano mañana?

In Spanish, mañana temprano is the normal order for tomorrow morning / tomorrow early.

You can think of it as:

  • mañana = the day reference
  • temprano = the time nuance

So mañana temprano sounds natural, while temprano mañana is not the usual way to say it in standard Spanish.

Could the sentence include me, as in Como no me desatasquen hoy el desagüe...?

Yes, and that would sound very natural too.

That me is an affected-person dative: it does not mean unclog me, but rather unclog the drain for me / to my concern. It emphasizes that this is the speaker’s drain or problem.

So:

  • Como no desatasquen hoy el desagüe... = neutral
  • Como no me desatasquen hoy el desagüe... = more personal, more colloquial, often more natural in everyday complaint language
If I were speaking directly to several workers in Spain informally, would desatasquen still be right?

Usually no.

In Spain, if you are addressing several people informally, you normally use vosotros, so the form would be:

  • Como no desatasquéis hoy el desagüe, llamaré otra vez...

Desatasquen would fit:

So desatasquen is not wrong, but it depends on who the subject is and how formal the situation is.

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