Trouble translating "sustraerse a"

Question

"Hay experiencias sobre las que la mayoría de las personas no se atreve a hablar, porque no caben en la realidad cotidiana y se sustraen a una explicación racional."

"There are experiences of which the majority of people do not dare speak because they do not fit into daily reality and ??? a rational explanation."

EDIT: Solved!

[formal] sustraerse a algo to avoid something

From http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/translate/spanish-english/sustraer

Answer 1

I would say there are experiences that ..........'and that elude a rational explanation', that is to say: ones for which a rational explanation /rational explanations cannot easily be found.

I agree with the translation that you and planes give for the rest of the text ...I just think that elude fits better than subtract into the given context. I could be wrong of couse. I hope other natives / more experienced Spanish students also contribute!

My first gut feeling having just read and understood the rest of the sentence in context was that it meant it defied a rational explanation!

I was not familiar with this verb but looked it up in my Oxford Spanish Dictionary which gives 'elude' as an option...which makes more sense than 'subtract'.(I am fairly sure that we would not say subtract here) ....I mean no disrespect to 'planes' who may be a native Spanish speaker and know much more than I do!

Another possible option having read planes translation again is that it can be reduced to a rational explanation!

I hope this helps

Why did planes remove his/her translation? I don't understand most of it was correct! :) - FELIZ77, Jan 19, 2016

Yes! Thanks for introducing me to that site. I've just been throwing spanish words in google and hoping for the best, but the Oxford Spanish Dictionary truly gives all of the definitions ^_^ - Kuwabara, Jan 19, 2016

It is a very good dictionary although not perfect ! What I particularlyy like about the Oxford Spanish Dictionary is that it usually gives lots of examples to show how to use words and constructions in context as well as idioms The Collins Spanish Dict - FELIZ77, Jan 19, 2016

does not give the same wealth of examples as the Oxford Spanish Dictionary (4th edn) - FELIZ77, Jan 19, 2016

You are welcome,, Kuwabara :) - FELIZ77, Jan 19, 2016

Answer 2

Can I suggest " defies a rational explanation"?

Experiences that defy a rational explanation works for me as well. :) - bosquederoble, Jan 19, 2016

Yes, I would go with that , too! Very good answer, Margarita :) - FELIZ77, Jan 19, 2016

Perfecto! - annierats, Jan 19, 2016

Answer 3

Would "enfrascarse" be understood by Spanish students?

Please comment on this... there are things to understand here... :) - chileno, Jan 19, 2016

From what I remember, it means to get really absorbed into something, such as a book, or something you're working on. Is there another meaning? - Kuwabara, Jan 19, 2016

Can you apply it to your version given up there and tell me if you understand? - chileno, Jan 20, 2016

Answer 4

A Spanish synonim synonym of sustraer is evitar (in some contexts, including the quoted one). The spanish word evitar suggests to me avoid in English. Elude is a good option, of course. My question is (yes, it is a question, not an answer) if whether avoid is more natural in English than elude, as my intuition suggests.

In this specific instance (elude a rational explanation), I do not think avoid would work. Avoid gives me a sense of purposeful will, that elude does not necessarily have, although clearly it can and often does in context.

In these two “simple” definitions:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/avoid

Simple Definition of avoid

to stay away from (someone or something)

to prevent the occurrence of (something bad, unpleasant, etc.)

to keep yourself from doing (something) or participating in (something)

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elude

Simple Definition of elude

to avoid or escape (someone or something) by being quick, skillful, or clever

to fail to be understood or remembered by (someone)

to fail to be achieved by (someone)

Avoid does not have the second one, that elude does.

Please note that when elude is used in the same sense as avoid, it gives more of a sense of "being quick, skillful, or clever" as the definition notes, and avoid does not give that sense. So there may a some cases when either could be used, but there are some where one cannot replace the other.

Now it does not take much to meet either of these- A bug can avoid being eaten, or elude being eaten- but in the second I still get a little more sense that it worked at it harder, or did something particularly better to accomplish that.

I would be interested in what other native English speakers think.

Please note, this answer addresses the question by Leoz, not the original question. :) - bosquederoble, Jan 19, 2016

Answer 5

A spanish synonim of sustraer is evitar (in some context, including the quoted). The spanish word evitar suggest me avoid in English. Elude is a good option, of course. My question is (yes, it is a question, not an answer) if avoid is more natural in English than elude as my intuition suggests.

Answer 6

I am not writing this post to gain any more points .so please do not vote for this particular post. but I would welcome any valid (relevant) comments!

I looked up the verb sustraer and sustraerSE and there is a difference in meaning, but before mentioning the differences I would like to point out that the verb in the context seems tio be sustraerSE unless I have mmisunderstood why the reflexive ending Se is placed before the conjugated verb.

Please note:

"Hay experiencias sobre las que la mayoría de las personas no se atreve a hablar, porque no caben en la realidad cotidiana y se sustraen a una explicación racional." "There are experiences of which the majority of people do not dare speak because they do not fit into daily reality and ??? a rational explanation."

and again:

[formal] sustraerse a algo to avoid something