"suponer" in context

Question

What is the best translation for "supone" in the following sentence? (from an article called "Las supersticiones españolas):

Nunca he creído en la mala suerte del martes 13, en el peligro que supone pasar por debajo de una escalera, o en ahuyentar el mal fario lanzando sal hacia atrás.

It would seem to me that the word "supposedly " would fit but that isn't one of the translations for "suponer" provided in SpanDict.

Note that it is martes, not viernes 13.. - annierats, Jan 1, 2016

In the article, Las supersticiones españolas, it says, "Otra de las supersticiones más conocidas es la referente al martes y 13, que corresponde al viernes anglosajón." - malbecblend, Jan 2, 2016

Answer 1

¡Hola!

"Supone" has a different meaning in that sentence. I am not sure if this rule works for all cases, but I haven't found any example in which it doesn't work:

If the verb is "suponer" and the subject of the sentence is a situation or an action, "suponer" has a different meaning. It's used to introduce a consequence created by that situation or action.

In your case, the subject (action) would be "pasar por debajo de una escalera".

A synonym in Spanish would be "conllevar", and in English would be "to entail", according to the translator of the site.

Sorry for my English, I hope to be helpful.

Your English is perfect and I think you confirmed my translation of the phrase. - Jubilado, Jan 1, 2016

gracias. Tu explicación tiene sentido. A propósito, tu inglés es perfecto. Si mi castellano fuera tan bueno como tu inglés yo estaría muy contento. - malbecblend, Jan 2, 2016

here is an example from Spandict that supports de12wey's explanation: (implicar) to mean, La mudanza no nos supondrá grandes gastos. The move won't mean o involve a lot of expenses. - malbecblend, Jan 2, 2016

in other words, "l peligro que supone pasar por debajo de una escalera" could mean something like the danger that is involved or entailed in going under a ladder. - malbecblend, Jan 2, 2016

whoops, El peligro...", not I peligro... - malbecblend, Jan 2, 2016

Answer 2

Creo que es peligroso pasar por debajo escaleras , no importa si sea el martes o el viernes. I believe it is dangerous to walk under ladders, whether it happens to be Tuesday or Friday.

And I would go with '' supposedly'' - annierats, Jan 1, 2016

Answer 3

I think the editor of the magazine goofed and didn't notice that the little words "se" and "al" were missing which when added to supone would make perfect sense.

Nunca he creído en la mala suerte del martes 13, en el peligro que se supone al pasar por debajo de una escalera, o en ahuyentar el mal fario lanzando sal hacia atrás.

I still don't like it. Even with my suggestion it doesn't seem right. I would do even more changes. One easy change would be to change "supone" to "supuesto" as in"

"el peligro supuesto" al pasar etc.

Y es posible que "de 12wey" tenga razón" - Daniela2041, Jan 2, 2016

Answer 4

I would translate it: "... in the danger that is supposed to happen by walking under a ladder...." That puts a lot of work in supone but I can't think of any word for word translation that makes sense.

I think de12way confirmed my fluent English translation above. So I feel good about it. - Jubilado, Jan 1, 2016

However, would "in the dangers that supposes to happen by walking under a ladder..." be OK gramatically and understood by you? - chileno, Jan 2, 2016