Encarar

Encarar
 

My Spanish/English dictionary says that this means "to approach, to face up to, to stand up to, to confront".

RAE says the following:
1. tr. Poner con diversos fines una cosa, un animal, etc., frente a otro.
2. tr. Apuntar, dirigir un arma hacia un lugar. Encarar la saeta, el arcabuz.
3. tr. Hacer frente a un problema, dificultad, etc. U. t. c. prnl.
4. intr. Dicho de una persona: Ponerse cara a cara, enfrente y cerca de otra. U. t. c. prnl.
5. prnl. Dicho de una persona o de un animal: Colocarse frente a otro en actitud violenta o agresiva.

#2 means to direct a weapon toward a certain place.
#3 means to stand up to a problem or a difficulty.
#4 means to do these things (confront, approach, stand up to) face to face with a person.
#5 is similar to #4, but adds aggression to the attitude.

:?: Are my understandings of these correct? :?:

:?: #4 says that it's an intransitive use of the verb. Would you please give me an example of this usage? :?:

:?: I do not understand #1 at all. What does that mean? :?:

Thanks!!

As to #1 refers: It has the same meaning, to face. It says to put for different purposes a things or an animal in fron of another (facing)

Place that book facing this way.

All of these mean "encarar"

Thanks, Chileno!!

So are my understandings of the rest okay?

And would you use it in an intransitive way for me so that I can see it? Thanks!

You'll have to wait for a other member more qualified and acquainted with grammar to answer. :)

For what it's worth, my dictionary gives:

encarar [A1] verbo transitivo
A (afrontar, enfocar) ‹tarea› to approach; yo encaro el problema desde otro punto de vista I approach the problem from a different angle; hay que encarar el futuro con optimismo we must look to the future with optimism; encaró su desgracia con valentía she faced up to her misfortune with courage
B ‹piezas› to marry, fit … together
C (México) ‹persona› to stand up to


nencararse v pron encararse con alguien to face up to o stand up to somebody; esta vez se encaró con él y le dijo qué pensaba this time she stood o faced up to him and told him exactly what she thought; se encaró con el jefe para pedirle el aumento he faced up to o confronted the boss and asked for more money

Thanks, both of you!

Surely this must be intransitive, i.e. having no direct object, when encararse con alguien :thinking::thinking:

That's sort of what I was thinking. Maybe a question for Irma?

I've just worked out that U. t. c. prnl. means also used as a prnl. but I'm not sure whether that helps me. Dang. :thinking:

Right - I had that. And that seems to be closely related to #5. It seems to me that when it's pronomial, it is "up close and personal" ... even aggressive/violent...

I've never thought about so many possibilities of this verb, so here are some examples, as I understand the definitions: :thinking:


#1: tr. Poner con diversos fines una cosa, un animal, etc., frente a otro.
· Se sentaron en las butacas encarando al escenario.
They took the seats in front of the stage.
· Encaré al gato con el perro y se veían muy cómicos gruñéndose uno al otro.
I put the cat in front of the dog and they looked really funny growling to each other.


#2. tr. Apuntar, dirigir un arma hacia un lugar. Encarar la saeta, el arcabuz.
· El soldado encaró el cañón al enemigo y disparó.
The soldier pointed the cannon toward the ennemy and shot.


#3. tr. Hacer frente a un problema, dificultad, etc. U. t. c. prnl.
· Los investigadores encaran el gran reto de encontrar una vacuna para el VIH en nuestros laboratorios.
Researchers are tackling the big challenge of finding a vaccine against HIV in our laboratories.
· Estamos encarando la crisis creando empleos temporales para los desempleados.
We're facing the crisis by creating temporary jobs for the unemployed.


#4. intr. Dicho de una persona: Ponerse cara a cara, enfrente y cerca de otra. U. t. c. prnl.
· Tienes que encarar a tu novio/te tienes que encarar con tu novio y preguntarle de frente si de verdad quiere casarse contigo.
You have to talk face to face to your boyfriend and ask him straight if he really wants to marry you.
· Me encaré con el profesor en el patio para disculparme por hacer trampa en el examen.
I stood face to face with the teacher to apologize for cheating at the test.


#5. prnl. Dicho de una persona o de un animal: Colocarse frente a otro en actitud violenta o agresiva
· El luchador se encaró con los aficionados que le gritaban "¡Tramposo!" y amenazó con arrojarles una silla.
The wrestler confronted the fans who yelled at him "Cheater!" and threatened to throw a chair at them.
· Cuando la iba a matar con el palo, la rata me encaró y me atacó.
As I was going to kill it with the stick, the rat confronted me and attacked me.

THANKS!! Very helpful! Your examples always are!! :)

I seem to be rather distracted today. :banghead:

Thank you! :rose:

Are you sure you wanted to make this correction? I would have said

I stood face to face with the teacher to apologize for cheating in the test.

To cheat on can only be used in the specific circumstance of being unfaithful to a partner. Perhaps I'm being too pedantic. :thinking:

Another AmE vs. BrE thing? Because I would never ever say "cheating in a test" in any circumstance. Hmmm...

Interesting. That's the only way to say it in BrE.

:lol: The only right thing then is that "at" was definitely wrong. http://forums.tomisimo.org/picture.p...&pictureid=587

Thank you both. It's good to know what to say in both countries. http://forums.tomisimo.org/picture.p...&pictureid=592

I love your icons........ :)