Breakdown of Sigo sin encontrar el cargador, así que no puedo encender el portátil.
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Questions & Answers about Sigo sin encontrar el cargador, así que no puedo encender el portátil.
What does sigo sin encontrar mean exactly?
It means I still haven’t found or I still can’t find.
Literally, it is something like I continue without finding:
- sigo = I continue / I keep on
- sin = without
- encontrar = to find
This structure, seguir + sin + infinitive, is very common in Spanish for saying that a situation is still continuing in a negative way:
- Sigo sin entenderlo = I still don’t understand it
- Sigue sin llamar = He/She still hasn’t called
So here, Sigo sin encontrar el cargador means the speaker has been looking for the charger and has not managed to find it yet.
Why is it sigo sin encontrar instead of just no encuentro?
Both are possible, but they are not exactly the same.
- No encuentro el cargador = I can’t find the charger / I’m not finding the charger
- Sigo sin encontrar el cargador = I still can’t find the charger / I still haven’t found the charger
The version with sigo sin emphasizes continuation. It suggests:
- the person has already been trying for some time
- the problem is still unresolved
So sigo sin encontrar sounds a bit more like: this is still the case.
Why is encontrar used here and not buscar?