guardarse de

v.

1 to watch out for, to beware of, to beware, to guard against.

María se guarda de los ladrones Mary watches out for thieves.

2 to be careful not to, to be very careful not to, to beware not to, to take care not to.

María se guarda de decir mentiras Mary takes care not to tell lies.

3 to refrain from, to abstain from.

María se guardó de contestarle Mary refrained from answering him.

4 to be protected from.

Se me guarda del mal I am protected from evil.

5 to be made to refrain from.

Se nos guarda de decir la verdad We are made to refrain from telling the..

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to refrain from

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(v.) = beware (of/that), be shy of + Gerundio

Ex. He should beware that the 'gee whiz' or 'Isn't science wonderful' syndrome is not uncommon among the recently converted = Debería tener cuidado de que el síndrome "recórcholis" o "la ciencia es maravillosa" es frecuente entre los nuevos conversos.

Ex. Printers or publishers were sometimes shy of giving their real names -- usually because a book was treasonable, or libellous, or a piracy -- and for similar reasons they might give a false place of publication and a false date.

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(v.) = beware (of/that), be shy of + Gerundio

Ex: He should beware that the 'gee whiz' or 'Isn't science wonderful' syndrome is not uncommon among the recently converted = Debería tener cuidado de que el síndrome "recórcholis" o "la ciencia es maravillosa" es frecuente entre los nuevos conversos.

Ex: Printers or publishers were sometimes shy of giving their real names -- usually because a book was treasonable, or libellous, or a piracy -- and for similar reasons they might give a false place of publication and a false date.