Weirdly enough, despite having the word
no in it,
cómo no is generally a
VERY positive response!
Yep, Spanish can be topsy-turvy like that ;)
Here's what it means…
👉
of course / absolutely / sure
So yeah, it’s basically used to answer a question or enthusiastically agree with what someone has just said.
💀 A few little warnings…As always, context is king! 👑
Whip out
sí, cómo no with a sarcastic tone and it suddenly means the
COMPLETE OPPOSITE:
➡️
Yeah, right… / Sure…
— Dice que ahora sí va a cambiar.
— Sí, cómo no.— He says he’s really going to change this time.
— Yeah, right.
Andddd when used as a question, it’s more like:
➡️
Of course! / Of course I did!
— ¿Te emocionaste cuando nació tu hijo?
— ¿Cómo no?— Did you get emotional when your son was born?
— Of course I did! How could I not?
Oh, and you might also hear:
➡️
¡Cómo no, si…!
The
si just introduces the reason why the answer is so obvious!
— ¿Te emocionaste cuando nació tu hijo?
— ¡Cómo no, si era mi primer hijo!— Did you get emotional when your son was born?
— How could I not? He was my first child!
🎺 A sincere
sí, cómo no can sound a little traditional or old-school, so don’t be surprised if you hear it more from older speakers.
Though, this is
NOT a hard-and-fast rule... I noticed a friend of Erika’s (trendy filmmaker) used it quite a lot last time she came round!