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"Trail" is a noun which is often translated as "el sendero", and "trace" is a transitive verb which is often translated as "localizar". Learn more about the difference between "trail" and "trace" below.
trail(
treyl
)A noun is a word referring to a person, animal, place, thing, feeling, or idea (e.g., man, dog, house).
1. (path)
a. el sendero (M)
(m) means that a noun is masculine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).
Follow the trail to get to the highway.Sigue el sendero para llegar a la carretera.
d. la pista (F) (for skiing)
(f) means that a noun is feminine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).
Before we went skiing every morning, we studied a map with the trails.Todas las mañanas, antes de salir a esquiar, estudiábamos un mapa con las pistas.
2. (trace)
b. la pista (F)
(f) means that a noun is feminine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).
Even though they have not caught the suspect, police say they are on his trail.Aunque no han alcanzado al sospechoso, la policía dice que está sobre su pista.
3. (wake)
b. el reguero (M)
(m) means that a noun is masculine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).
World War II left a trail of crimes against humanity in its path.La Segunda Guerra Mundial dejó un reguero de crímenes contra la humanidad a su paso.
A transitive verb is a verb that requires a direct object (e.g., I bought a book.).
4. (to drag)
a. arrastrar
Fran trailed her blanket around everywhere when she was a baby.Fran arrastraba su cobija por todos lados cuando era bebé.
5. (to follow)
b. seguir el rastro
She allowed her eyes to trail the man for only a second.Permitió que sus ojos siguieran el rastro del hombre solo por un segundo.
a. ir a la zaga
The local team trails its rival in the national rankings.El equipo local va a la zaga de su rival en la clasificación nacional.
7. (to dirty)
a. dejar
Take your boots off; you're trailing mud all over the carpet!Quítate las botas; ¡estás dejando lodo por todo el tapete!
An intransitive verb is one that does not require a direct object (e.g., The man sneezed.).
8. (to drag)
a. arrastrar
Zeke's bat trailed behind him as he trudged home after losing the game.El bate de Zeke arrastraba detrás de él mientras caminaba a casa después de perder el partido.
a. ir a la zaga
At halftime our team was still trailing.A medio tiempo nuestro equipo todavía iba a la zaga.
10. (to dangle)
a. colgar
Vines trail from balconies in New Orleans in the summer.Las parras cuelgan de los balcones en Nueva Orleans en el verano.
a. patear
We trailed around my cousin's new plot of land all morning.Pateamos por el nuevo terreno de mi primo toda la mañana.
trace(
treys
)A transitive verb is a verb that requires a direct object (e.g., I bought a book.).
1. (to find)
a. localizar
Detectives are trying to trace the car of the suspect.Los detectives están tratando de localizar el automóvil del sospechoso.
b. ubicar (Latin America)
Regionalism used in Latin America: all the countries in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Does not include Spain.
We are using radar to trace the enemy submarine.Estamos utilizando un radar para ubicar el submarino enemigo.
2. (to track)
a. rastrear
The police traced and arrested the con artist after a six-month investigation.La policía rastreó y arrestó al estafador al cabo de una investigación de seis meses.
b. seguirle el rastro
It is hard to trace him because he uses fake names and addresses.Es difícil seguirle el rastro porque usa nombres y direcciones falsas.
c. seguirle la pista
The police officer traced the suspect for four months through eastern Europe.El oficial de policía le siguió la pista al sospechoso durante cuatro meses por Europa del Este.
3. (to draw)
a. averiguar el origen de
I traced the origin of my last name. It turns out to be Italian.Averigué el origen de mi apellido. Resulta que es italiano.
A noun is a word referring to a person, animal, place, thing, feeling, or idea (e.g., man, dog, house).
b. la pista (F)
(f) means that a noun is feminine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).
The police haven't found any trace of evidence that would help them solve the case.La policía no ha encontrado ninguna pista de evidencia que les ayude a resolver el caso.
c. el indicio (M)
(m) means that a noun is masculine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).
There are traces of deer in the clearing of the forest.Hay indicios de que hubo humanos en el claro del bosque.
d. la señal (F)
(f) means that a noun is feminine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).
A little boy is missing and we still haven't found any trace of his whereabouts.Un niño se perdió y todavía no hemos encontrado ninguna señal de su paradero.
a. el rastro (M)
(m) means that a noun is masculine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).
A new test shows no trace of drugs in the body of the victim.Un nuevo examen revela que no hay rastros de drogas en el cuerpo de la víctima.
b. el vestigio (M)
(m) means that a noun is masculine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).
The glass of water was found to contain traces of poison.Se encontró que en el vaso de agua había vestigios de veneno.
c. la huella (F)
(f) means that a noun is feminine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).
The suspect was released because there were no traces of gunpowder on his hands.El sospechoso fue puesto en libertad porque no se encontraron huellas de pólvora en sus manos.
7. (computing)
a. la traza (F)
(f) means that a noun is feminine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).
I think somebody is running a trace on this telephone conversation.Creo que alguien está haciendo una traza a esta llamada telefónica.
8. (strap)
a. el tirante (M)
(m) means that a noun is masculine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).
The leather trace broke and I fell to the ground.El tirante de cuero se rompió y caí al piso.
