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Aun tocando la bocina, los carros no avanzan.

Aun tocando la bocina, los carros no avanzan.
Even honking the horn, the cars aren't moving forward.
From Lesson 321:Even when (aun)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Aun tocando la bocina, los carros no avanzan.

Why is there no accent on aun in this sentence?
When written without a written accent, aun means "even". With an accent, aún means "still" or "yet". Here, aun pairs directly with the gerund tocando to form a concessive clause. This is a common structure used to say "even doing [action]" or "despite doing [action]" to show that an action happens but fails to change the outcome.
Could I use aunque instead of aun here?
You can, but you would need to change the verb form. Aunque requires a conjugated verb, not a gerund. To use it here, you would say aunque tocan la bocina (even though they honk the horn) instead of the gerund phrase aun tocando (even honking).
Who is doing the honking? Grammatically, shouldn't the gerund match the subject of the main sentence (los carros)?
Yes, strictly speaking, a gerund usually shares the subject of the main verb. Here, you can think of the cars, and by extension the drivers inside them, as the ones honking. Spanish is sometimes slightly more forgiving than English with unmatched gerund subjects when the context makes it completely obvious, but in this case, treating the cars and drivers as a single entity works perfectly.
Why use tocando for honking a horn? Doesn't tocar mean "to touch" or "to play an instrument"?
That is exactly right! In Spanish, you "play" the horn just like you would play a musical instrument. Tocar is the standard verb for sounding a vehicle's horn, ringing a doorbell (tocar el timbre), or knocking on a door (tocar la puerta).
Are carros and bocina the standard words everywhere?
They are widely understood in Latin America, but regional variations are very common. In Spain, you will hear coches instead of carros, and claxon is often used instead of bocina in both Spain and Mexico. In places like Colombia or Venezuela, you might also hear tocar el pito for honking the horn.

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