sentence translation problem

learning the word "subir" I encountered this sentence: "Il ne se voyait vraiment pas subir sa belle-mère pendant 300 kms." I believe it means "He couldn't see putting up with his mother-in-law for 300 kms."

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on August 4, 2012 at 4:05pm

I think "ne se voyait....pas" might mean "was not prepared" -the same thing I suppose.

Subir sounds a bit dramatic to me - I think souffrir would also be possible.

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Permalink Reply by alan gould on August 4, 2012 at 4:26pm

I'm sure "souffrir" would work. I got the sentence from the Reverso dictionary which I'm finding to be reliable. They also gave the sentence "Au repas de fin d'année, j'ai dû subir le patron et ses blagues misogynes pendant deux heures." they use the definition for this usage as "to have to put up with (personne), to be subjected to..." (US) English may be different, but none of the following would be any different, more dramatic: I had to endure, put up with, tolerate, suffer his jokes.

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on August 4, 2012 at 6:23pm

I think I was guided by the context-in a mother -in-law situation I think you would need to walk on eggshells.

Maybe subir is common usage but to me it sounds a little formal -your second example sounds like a fairly fraught situation as well.

Supporter is another word with a similar meaning that I would find a little less harsh.