Using atreverse - literally is it 'Dare yourself'

Question

In the the EXAMPLE in the Word of the Day, I find this sentence:

¡Anda! Atrévete pedirle bailar. - Go on! I dare you to ask her to dance.

The conjugation is in the 2nd person familiar. So although the translation is "I dare you" does the actual USE of the word demand the conjugation of person of who is daring or being dared .. as in this example, the LITERAL translation is "Dare yourself to ask..." Would one ever actually say, " Te atrevo hacer algo " ?

thanks,

Dana

Thanks for asking that, I've always wondered how to say I dare you. I guess you kinda don't, unless you want to use desafiar. Must be one of those things that doesn't translate very pretty haha - Ashlita, Sep 25, 2010

Answer 1

The example sentence is wrong. It should be:

¡Anda! Atrévete a pedirle que baile/un baile. (I prefer not to use infinitive here)

"Te atrevo hacer algo" makes no sense in Spanish. This verb is rarely used without the reflexive pronoun (ie. it is in practice a pronominal verb), so it is just used like this:

Me atrevo a...

Te atreves a...

Se atreve a...

etc.

The preposition "a" is never optional before another verb or phrase.

...wonderful to learn the "when" about that "a"! I saw "con", but not with a verb or phrase. - Janice, Sep 25, 2010

Answer 2

"Dare yourself to ask..."

Sounds like something that an MT (machine translator) might have produced. When faced with a translation that native speakers would never say, You might want to ask yourself, Is there really a (required) translation for every word (or, alternatively, might I need to add/subtract a few words to produce real language).

However much you might want a simple one-to-one correspondence between the words/elements in a Spanish and the words in the resulting translation into English (or vice versa), It's not going to happen.

Pienso que sí. Yo ya recuerda cómo a seguir este excelente consejo. - machamaria, Dec 31, 2011

Answer 3

"Atrever" rather than "atreverse" is not even listed in either my Gran Diccionario Oxford or my Harper Collins. Nor do you find it in usual dictionaries here at the site.

So I smiled when I found it listed here:

atrever verb 1. to dare

Copyright © 2009 Curiosity Media Inc.

If you would like a verb that is not pronominal, how about desafiar?

desafiar [des-ah-fe-ar’] article & verb transitive 1. To challenge, to defy, to dare.

1. To try one’s strength against another.
2. To rival, to oppose, to struggle.
3. To decompose, to dissolve; to rescind; to discharge.

Velazquez® Spanish and English Dictionary. Copyright © 2007 by Velazquez® Press. All rights reserved.

Can desafiar be used like that, or it it very confrontational? Like, "te desafio a pedirle que baile," is that the same tone as "I dare you to ask her to dance!" in english? - Ashlita, Sep 25, 2010

With regard to tone, I am not sure that atreverse is the only verb to use in confrontation. How about "retar". (I only know it from the dictionary, though.) Need "I dare you to ask her to dance" always be confrontational or said in anger? - Janice, Sep 25, 2010

Answer 4

delete-already answered

I think that was just a liberal translation to fit the context.

If you want to actually put the subject "I" into the sentence, note that you are changing the verb from reflexive (pronominal) (challenge yourself) to non-reflexive, (non-pronominal) transitive (I challenge you) usage. I always like to check the dictionary to see if non-pronominal, transitive use is allowed when doing so. Unfortunately, our dictionary is very sparse on providing the usages for this verb.

According to the R A E dictionary, however:

atrever.

(Del lat. tribu?re, atribuir).

1. tr. desus. Dar atrevimiento.

2. prnl. Determinarse a algún hecho o dicho arriesgado. No se atreve a dar el salto. No se atrevió conmigo.

3. prnl. Insolentarse, faltar al respeto debido.

4. prnl. Llegar a competir, rivalizar.

5. prnl. ant. Confiarse en alguien.

Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados

states that the non-pronominal usage is being phased out in favor of pronominal (prnl) usage. That may be why the original sentence used a pronominal format.

¡Bienvenido al foro!

Welcome to the forum.

Answer 5

I have come across this word several times while reading La sombra del viento and it seems to me that it can often enough be translated in other ways - it has other "shades" of meaning.

For example, I found these examples in my Harper Collins dictionary while looking the word up for a usage in my book.;

• ¿Te atreves con esta tarea? Can you handle this task?;
• ¿Te atreves con este filete? Can you manage this steak?;

Answer 6

Ashlita, what popped into my head when I saw your question was 'a que no te atreves...' for "I dare you" - that - if I am recalling correctly was the way little kids dared each other in Spain.

I'm guessing that would translate more literally to

'You wouldn't dare'

which still sounds good and 'in use' in English.

¿Qué te parece?

I bet you wouldn't dare.......... - jeezzle, Sep 26, 2010

Yes, both are good. :) - galsally, Sep 26, 2010

Answer 7

Ashlita, what popped into my head when I saw your question was 'a que no te atreves...' for "I dare you" - that - if I am recalling correctly was the way little kids dared each other in Spain.