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SPANISH VERB

tratar

to treat

  • #35 most used
  • Regular -ar verb
  • Gerund: tratando
  • Past participle: tratado

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. yo I treat
  2. tú you treat
  3. usted, él, ella he/she treats
  4. nosotros we treat
  5. vosotros Spain you all treat
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they treat

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

  1. yo I treated
  2. tú you treated
  3. usted, él, ella he/she treated
  4. nosotros we treated
  5. vosotros Spain you all treated
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they treated

Imperfect

Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. yo I used to treat
  2. tú you used to treat
  3. usted, él, ella he/she used to treat
  4. nosotros we used to treat
  5. vosotros Spain you all used to treat
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to treat

Future

Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common

  1. yo I will treat
  2. tú you will treat
  3. usted, él, ella he/she will treat
  4. nosotros we will treat
  5. vosotros Spain you all will treat
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they will treat

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

  1. yo I would treat
  2. tú you would treat
  3. usted, él, ella he/she would treat
  4. nosotros we would treat
  5. vosotros Spain you all would treat
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they would treat

Present subjunctive

Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”

  1. yo (that) I treat
  2. tú (that) you treat
  3. usted, él, ella (that) he/she treat
  4. nosotros (that) we treat
  5. vosotros Spain (that) you all treat
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they treat

Past subjunctive

Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”

  1. yo (if) I treated
  2. tú (if) you treated
  3. usted, él, ella (if) he/she treated
  4. nosotros (if) we treated
  5. vosotros Spain (if) you all treated
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they treated

Imperative

Imperativo · requests and orders; a negative one uses the subjunctive (no hables)

  1. tú treat!
  2. usted treat! (formal)
  3. nosotros treat! (let’s)
  4. vosotros Spain treat! (all of you)
  5. ustedes treat! (all of you)

How to use tratar

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Mi suegra me trata como a una hija.

    My mother-in-law treats me like a daughter.

  2. Past

    El doctor trató la infección con antibióticos.

    The doctor treated the infection with antibiotics.

  3. Imperfect

    Mi abuelo trataba a todos con mucho respeto.

    My grandpa treated everyone with great respect.

  4. Future

    En ese hotel te tratarán como a un rey.

    At that hotel they'll treat you like a king.

  5. Conditional

    Yo trataría ese tema con mucho cuidado.

    I would handle that topic very carefully.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Quiero que trates bien a tu hermanita.

    I want you to treat your little sister well.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Le pedí que tratara a mis papás con paciencia.

    I asked him to treat my parents with patience.

  8. Imperative

    Trata a los demás como quieres que te traten.

    Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Good to know

  • "Tratar de" is to try; "tratarse de" is to be about: ¿de qué se trata la película?

Where you hear tratar

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

Spanish · Intermediate Level 1

  • Mis vecinos me tratan bien. My neighbours treat me well.
  • Doña Chayo me trató muy bien. Chayo treated me very well.
  • Aquí la vamos a tratar bien. We're going to treat you well here.
17
The Neighbours

Intermediate Level 1 · que la haya tratado bien

Needs a subscription 27
It's Your Decision

Intermediate Level 1 · me trata

Needs a subscription 30
Here I Am

Intermediate Level 1 · me trató

Needs a subscription

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -ar verb.