Desafiar vs Retar..
Hi every one,
There are two verbs in Spanish (there may be more but I am just aware of these two hehe).. which mean "to challenge, defy etc." Which are : "Desafiar" and "Retar" now both essentialy mean the same as per by understanding but I just wish to know as to which of the two is more commonly used among the actual Spanish Speakers/Natives.
Any help is greatly appreciated..
Thanks
3 Answers
Todos los paises de Europa enfrentan grandes desafios econòmicos. Un reto significa una provocación.
Mis hijos me retan.
My two cents of non-native knowledge:
Desafiar is to throw a desafio, while retar is to throw a retar. So the difference, for the most part here, is going to be the difference between a desafío and a reto.
A desafío is usually meant in a slightly positive sense, referring to a situation that is usually provocated but is considered to be more of an 'internal response' to something challenging.
A reto has comparatively negative connotations, involving an external factor that provokes or affects someone.
In terms of usage, I have seen desafío used more often with honorable fights (but so can desafío), with complexities and complications that arise in life (raising children, finding a suitable partner etc), positive changes, steps or challenges (giving up smoking, teaching kids who don't want to learn, overhauling the national policy on xyz) etc.
Reto is more often used in a competitive scenario (in sports, for example, although I've seen desafío used as well), and in sentences where the subject is negatively affecting someone or something (global warming would be throwing retos, for example, and handling these retos would be a desafío for environmentalists and whatnot).
Oh, and retar can possibly used in the sense of telling someone off, although I may have misunderstood the context in that article.
As for which one is used more often, I haven't the rabbit's tail of an idea.
All examples taken from Linguee. I searched for desafíar and retar.
Esta Asamblea debe retar a otros Estados miembros para que sigan el ejemplo de Gran Bretaña
This House should challenge other Member States to match Britain's example. Note that although the challenge will give positive results, it is synonymous to a provocation and thus retar is used.
Estando físicamente presentes podemos comprender quiénes son nuestras hermanas y nuestros hermanos en Cristo, y así desafíar todas nuestras generalizaciones.
Being physicially present, we can realize who are our brothers and sisters in Christ, and our generalizations are thus challenged. Note how the generalizations are not provoked, but positively challenged. Desafíos usually do involve something abstract and complicated like generalizations, rather than people.
Se les pidió a los participantes que explicaran sus puntos de vista sin retar lo expuesto por otros.
Participants were asked to explain their perspective without challenging the statements of others. Here is an ambiguous case where I daresay desafíar could also work. I guess retar was used here to convey the negativity of the challenge.
Esta victoria es la que llevó a Ashbury a desafíar por la America's Cup por primera vez.
This win pushed Ashbury to challenge for the America's Cup for the first time. Another case where a desafío is thrown not to a specific person, and involves no provocation. Note the positive connotation.
Hago un llamado a todos los norteamericanos a servir mejorando nuestras comunidades y de esta manera retar y derrotar a los terroristas.
I call on all Americans to serve by bettering our communities and, thereby, defy and defeat the terrorists. The challenge here is not for the terrorists to improve themselves, but intended to destroy them. If this involved mathematical problems and young kids, you would probably want to use desafíar, or something else.
Un año después, los kiwis y Michael Fay sorprendieron al mundo al desafíar al San Diego Yacht Club con su enorme monocasco Big Boat KZ-1.
One year later, the Kiwis and Michael Fay surprised the Cup world again by challenging the San Diego Yacht Club with their immense monohull nicknamed the Big Boat KZ 1. This is in the same vein as the previous usage of desafíar.
