Breakdown of Incluso si mueves la baldosa, el mecanismo sigue atascándose.
seguir
to continue
si
if
el mecanismo
the mechanism
incluso
even (including)
mover
to move (an object, a body part)
atascarse
to get stuck
la baldosa
the floor tile
Questions & Answers about Incluso si mueves la baldosa, el mecanismo sigue atascándose.
Since this lesson covers indicative triggers like a lo mejor, does incluso si also exclusively take the indicative?
Unlike a lo mejor (which always takes the indicative to express probability), incluso si can take either the indicative or the subjunctive depending on the context. Here, mueves is in the indicative because it describes a factual, realistic, or habitual situation ("Even when you move it, it still gets stuck"). If it were a purely hypothetical scenario ("Even if you were to move it"), you would use the past subjunctive: incluso si movieras.
How does sigue atascándose work to mean "keeps getting stuck"?
The verb seguir followed by a gerund (a verb ending in -ando or -iendo) expresses the continuation of an action, translating to "to keep doing" something in English. Here, the reflexive verb atascarse (to get stuck) is used in its gerund form, atascándose, to show that the mechanism continuously or repeatedly gets stuck.
Why is the se attached to the end of atascándose instead of going before the verb?
When you have a verbal phrase made of a conjugated verb and a gerund (like sigue atascando), you have two choices for where to put the reflexive pronoun se. You can attach it directly to the end of the gerund (adding an accent mark to maintain the original pronunciation: sigue atascándose) or you can place it before the conjugated verb (se sigue atascando). Both are grammatically correct and mean the exact same thing.
I've seen azulejo used for "tile". Why use baldosa here?
Baldosa specifically refers to floor tiles, which fits this context where someone is presumably lifting a piece of flooring to reach a mechanism underneath. Azulejo, on the other hand, is typically used for glazed wall tiles, like those you would find in a bathroom shower or a kitchen backsplash. Another common word is teja, which specifically means a roof tile.
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