Tratar means to try, to treat. Learn five tenses, then practise each person.
Present: trato, tratas, trata, tratamos, tratáis, tratan.
Tratar in the present tense
Use the present for current states, habits and actions. The subject can be omitted when the verb makes it clear.
Vosotros is informal plural you in Spain. Ustedes uses the ellos/ellas form and is the usual plural you in Latin America.
To try to do something is tratar de: trato de dormir, I try to sleep.
Tratar in the preterite tense
Use the preterite for a completed event in the past, viewed as a whole.
Tratar in the imperfect tense
Use the imperfect for past habits, ongoing situations and background descriptions, without marking their endpoint.
Tratar in the future tense
Use the simple future for what will happen. Spanish also uses this tense for a guess about the present.
Tratar in the conditional tense
Use the conditional for what would happen, a polite request or a hypothetical situation.
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All six persons. Blue, bold forms differ from regular endings, including spelling changes that preserve pronunciation.
| Person | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Future | Conditional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | trato | traté | trataba | trataré | trataría |
| tú | tratas | trataste | tratabas | tratarás | tratarías |
| él / ella / usted | trata | trató | trataba | tratará | trataría |
| nosotros / nosotras | tratamos | tratamos | tratábamos | trataremos | trataríamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | tratáis | tratasteis | tratabais | trataréis | trataríais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | tratan | trataron | trataban | tratarán | tratarían |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | trato | I try |
| tú | tratas | you try |
| él / ella / usted | trata | he/she tries |
| nosotros / nosotras | tratamos | we try |
| vosotros / vosotras | tratáis | you all (vosotros) try |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | tratan | they try |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | traté | I tried |
| tú | trataste | you tried |
| él / ella / usted | trató | he/she tried |
| nosotros / nosotras | tratamos | we tried |
| vosotros / vosotras | tratasteis | you all (vosotros) tried |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | trataron | they tried |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | trataba | I used to try |
| tú | tratabas | you used to try |
| él / ella / usted | trataba | he/she used to try |
| nosotros / nosotras | tratábamos | we used to try |
| vosotros / vosotras | tratabais | you all (vosotros) used to try |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | trataban | they used to try |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | trataré | I will try |
| tú | tratarás | you will try |
| él / ella / usted | tratará | he/she will try |
| nosotros / nosotras | trataremos | we will try |
| vosotros / vosotras | trataréis | you all (vosotros) will try |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | tratarán | they will try |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | trataría | I would try |
| tú | tratarías | you would try |
| él / ella / usted | trataría | he/she would try |
| nosotros / nosotras | trataríamos | we would try |
| vosotros / vosotras | trataríais | you all (vosotros) would try |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | tratarían | they would try |
Tratar follows the regular ar pattern in these five tenses.
The present forms are trato, tratas, trata, tratamos, tratáis, tratan, in the order yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros and ellos/ellas/ustedes.
traté, trataste, trató, tratamos, tratasteis, trataron. For example, traté means “I tried”.
Tratar follows the regular ar pattern in these five tenses.
The preterite (traté) presents a completed event; the imperfect (trataba) gives a past habit or background situation. The English glosses are “I tried” and “I used to try”, but context determines the best translation.
The yo forms are trataré (“I will try”) and trataría (“I would try”). The full charts above include every person.
Tratar means to try, to treat. To try to do something is tratar de: trato de dormir, I try to sleep.
Updated · English prompts, Spanish answers.