I don't know what the sentence in Spanish means, but the expression "y trata de encontrar..." doesn't mean "slave trade", it means "...and try to find...".
Oh jaja, now I understand...the sentence means: "Observe carefully and try to find three little houses". Of course, it is a children's book! silly me!

So trata also means try? How come that doesn't come up in the dictionary on this site? Talk about confusing!!

So trata also means try? How come that doesn't come up in the dictionary on this site? Talk about confusing!!

Maybe you should always try to search for the meaning of each individual word on the site-dictionary. A search for a long sentence will never be as accurate as a search for a single word. Notice that there is translation (for sentences) and dictionary (for single words).

So "trata" in this context is the third person form of the verb "tratar" "to try". Literally, "(you, formal) try.....)"

Thanks for the help, I do use both, but sometimes even the 3 translations come up with differences. I have a long way to go!!

Thanks for the help, I do use both, but sometimes even the 3 translations come up with differences. I have a long way to go!!

I see what's going on..."to try" shows up under "probar". I tried typing "trata" and I got the same result, "slave trade", then I tried "tratar" (to try) but I've got "to treat"- "I like the way they treated me". Don't worry even for a native speaker a language is always challenging.

"Tratar de" is a particular usage of the verb "tratar", it means "make sure". As when a mother tells a child "trata de lavar tus manos antes de cenar".

So "trata de encontrar tres casitas" means "make sure you find three houses". Don't just try.

So trata also means try? How come that doesn't come up in the dictionary on this site? Talk about confusing!!

Hi Tony, the dictionary lists the verb tratar well defined:

intransitive verb

1. (intentar)

tratar de hacer algo -> to try to do something

However, the noun "trata" only means trade.

Nonetheless, there is ONE dictionary on the web which supplies incomplete verb forms. I hope one day we will get to this too. That site is a much bigger one and I hope it will also be helpful to you:

http://www.wordreference.com/definicion/trata

So trata also means try? How come that doesn't come up in the dictionary on this site? Talk about confusing!!

Hi Tony, the dictionary lists the verb tratar well defined:

intransitive verb

1. (intentar)

tratar de hacer algo -> to try to do something

However, the noun "trata" only means trade.

Nonetheless, there is ONE dictionary on the web which supplies incomplete verb forms. I hope one day we will get to this too. That site is a much bigger one and I hope it will also be helpful to you:

http://www.wordreference.com/definicion/trata

"Se trata" means "it refers to", or to be "in reference to" = 'Este libro se trata de la historia de los esclavos". "This book is about the history of slaves".---|---| "Se trata" can also be expressed as "it treats"= "La enfermedad se trata con el doctor"."Illnesses are treated by the doctor". But this is different from "trata" which was the original question= "Trata de vestirte tu solo" "Try to get dressed on your own". So in this case "trata" means to try.

"Tratar de" is a particular usage of the verb "tratar", it means "make sure". As when a mother tells a child "trata de lavar tus manos antes de cenar".

So "trata de encontrar tres casitas" means "make sure you find three houses". Don't just try.

Sorry, but that is incorrect. Tratar de means "to try," and I am absolutely positive about this. If a mother wants to tell her child to make sure to wash his hands, she might say "No te olvides de lavarte las manos." There are other ways, but she most certainly would not say "trata de."

I don't think anyone has pointed out that the verbs in the sentence are in the imperative form, not the third-person present. So it means "Observe carefully and try to find three little houses."

"Se trata" means "it refers to", or to be "in reference to" = 'Este libro se trata de la historia de los esclavos". "This book is about the history of slaves".

Is it "se trata" or just "trata" in this case? I just want to be clear because I've been told that it should be "Este libro trata de la historia de los esclavos" and I'm always tempted to use the "se" myself.

"Se trata" means "it refers to", or to be "in reference to" = 'Este libro se trata de la historia de los esclavos". "This book is about the history of slaves".

Is it "se trata" or just "trata" in this case? I just want to be clear because I've been told that it should be "Este libro trata de la historia de los esclavos" and I'm always tempted to use the "se" myself.

Both are correct to mean "to be about," but the usage is slightly different. If you want to ask what a book, movie, etc., is about, you say "¿De qué se trata'" "Se trata de la Segunda Guerra Mundial." But you can use tratar sobre to say that something deals with, or is about, something else. For example, "El informe trata sobre las diferentes clases sociales y qué drogas consume cada una" (The report deals with (is about) the different...).

También he oído decir: 'El libro trata acerca de la historia de los esclavos'. Pero no si esto es correcto.

Thanks. Your explanation makes sense James. I guess it was never broken down like that to me. According to this person, one could say "El libro trata..." or "En el libro se trata..." and I left it at that. In everyday speech, however, I'd heard "se trata de esto o lo otro" so I didn't know there was a difference. Oh and google has over 5 millions hits for "de qué trata la película" so it's probably said both ways for that too.