tratar = to be?
I've seen "tratar" used to mean a variation of "to be". For example, from a book I'm reading, "Sabía que se trataba de hombres de profundo espiritualida...", the translator states "he knew it was men of profound spirituality...".
A. Is this correct? B. Is there any rhyme or reason as to when this would be used vs. "estar"?
¡Gracias!
6 Answers
Hi DR1960. No, this is not an instance of the word tratar replacing ser or estar. This is an instance of the reflexive verb tratarse—along with the preposition de—translating as “to be about.” More loosely, you might think of it as (say, for example, in literature) of how the author is treating a subject. I guess I’m not sure why the translator didn’t translate it as “he knew it was about men of profound spirituality. . .” I guess more context might be needed for that.
Oh, an afterthought: If you go to the translator and type in tratar, then scroll down to “tratarse” and “pronominal verb” (which means “reflexive verbs” and “reciprocal verbs” together) you will see that tratarse de = to be about. Notice also that in your text, it’s “se trataba de,” not “trataba de.” So, then, as you might know, you’re unattaching the reflexive pronoun off of the infinitive and putting it in front, conjugating tratar to the imperfect past and adding the preposition.
Brian has the right idea in saying that the verb tratarse can loosely be translated to mean: to be about something. I think you may have been thinking of ser acerca de = to be about: ¿De qué se trata? = What is it about? / What does it concern?
However, I have learnt from Lazarus, a native from Spain that there is really no such thing as a reflexive verb but these are pronominal verbs with reflexive endings such as me te se etc...except that, in this context I do not think that it refers to individuals but it is talking in the 3rd person singular it in so much as it refers to: what it's about and is used when talking about a matter/topic.
I hope this helps 
Tratarse de algo means to be related to something or to have to do with something.
Se trataba de un tema muy profundo. It had to do with a deep subject.
Hi FELIZ77. I tend to think of so-called reflexive verbs and so-called reciprocal verbs as subsets of the pronominal verbs. Of course, this concept can be over the top for some students who are seeing the term “reflexive verbs” in their textbooks. You have a good point, in any case, that this is more of a third-person singular “it” issue than someone doing something to himself or herself. Very interesting!
In any event, here’s a good overall explanation of this topic, I think: Spanish Pronominal Verbs
This sounds more like ´treated´ than like estar.
I´m not sure I´d trust the translator. (but of course, may be wrong myself)
Thanks - makes sense now. You all rock!! !
