In Spanish, "cómo no" is used to express "of course" colloquially . This usually happens in these two different situations:
Cómo no: a polite response
A polite way to say literally "of course" as a response to a petition from someone is "Cómo no."
For example, if someone asks you:
¿Me dejas usar tu baño?
May I use your bathrom?
A very affirmative "yes of course" would be:
Adding "Sí" is more emphatic, but you could just say:
Other examples are:
Using cómo no in this context reinforces the affirmation.
Cómo no: stating the obvious
To refer to something that the speaker considers as something expected, obvious, needless to say
For example:
Y, cómo no, Mario llegó media hora tarde a la cita.And, of course, (no surprise here), Mario arrived half an hour late to the appointment.
- Al final Marisa le prestó el dinero a Paula. - Cómo no, Marisa, siempre tan generosa...- In the end, Marisa lent the money to Paula. - Of course, (what else could happen), Marisa, always so generous...
This cómo no implies the obvious, it is a situation that is understood to be the natural thing to happen.
Note that for both these uses of cómo no, the word cómo has a written accent.
See other interesting uses of como/cómo:
- Using "como si" in Spanish with indicative to express indifference
- Using cómo de + adjective/adverb to ask about the degree or extent of a specific quality
- Using como as "if" (subordinate conditional clause)
- Using "como si" + the imperfect subjunctive for an ironic reproach
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Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
- Señora, ¿me permite su abrigo, por favor? - Cómo no.- Madam, may I take your coat, please? - Of course.
- ¿Puedo traer a un acompañante a tu fiesta? - ¡Cómo no, por supuesto!- May I bring a plus one to your party? - Yes, absolutely!
Y, cómo no, Mario llegó media hora tarde a la cita.And, of course, (no surprise here), Mario arrived half an hour late to the appointment.
- Al final Marisa le prestó el dinero a Paula. - Cómo no, Marisa, siempre tan generosa...- In the end, Marisa lent the money to Paula. - Of course, (what else could happen), Marisa, always so generous...
Yo siempre le echo una buena cantidad de aceite al gazpacho, cómo no; el aceite de oliva es esencial para el gazpacho.I always put a good quantity of oil to the gazpacho, of course (as it should be, obviously); olive oil is essential for gazpacho.
