entrañar
verbCEFR B2
What does “entrañar” mean in English?
to entail, to involve
to entail, to involve (to carry inherent risks or difficulties; entrañar riesgos / dificultades — higher register than suponer)
Example sentences
La implementación del sistema entraña riesgos que no han sido suficientemente valorados por las partes.
The implementation of the system entails risks that have not been adequately assessed by the parties involved.
Cualquier cambio estructural de este tipo entraña costes a corto plazo que deben asumirse con transparencia.
Any structural change of this kind entails short-term costs that must be assumed with transparency.
No conviene minimizar las dificultades que entraña la transición hacia un modelo energético diferente.
One should not minimise the difficulties that the transition to a different energy model entails.
How to use it
Entrañar means 'to entail', 'to involve', 'to carry with it' — conveying that a decision or course of action inherently brings risks, difficulties, or obligations. It is a formal verb, common in academic, legal, and policy registers. The typical frame is 'entrañar + noun' (entrañar riesgos, entrañar consecuencias, entrañar dificultades). It cannot take a que-clause; the consequence must be expressed as a noun. Higher register than 'suponer' and 'implicar' for the entailment sense.
Common mistake
Entrañar cannot take a que-clause (*entraña que + subjunctive is non-standard). The entailed consequence must be a noun. English speakers often substitute 'implica que' — which is fine at B2 but lacks the formal register of entrañar. Reserve entrañar for academic, policy, and formal debate contexts.