7. Sixty-Four Verbs part 10 Flashcards
“To treat”
Tratar- but far more commonly encountered with de and meaning “to try.”
Dictionaries ignore that ‘tratar de’ means ‘to try’, thus, a student has to choose among (4 verbs):
ensayar, procurar, intentar, pretender.
“to try”
tratar de
“I tried to sleep.”
Traté de dormir.
“We tried to call you.”
Tratamos de llamarte.
“Try to come before eleven.”
Trata de venir antes de las once.
Only when you’re using “to try” in the sense of “to sample” or “to test” should you abandon ‘tratar de’; the correct verb here is ____.
probar
“Try to try (i.e. make an effort to sample) the 1985 white wine.”
Trata de probar el vino blanco 1985.
“to have to do with” or “to be about”
Tratarse
“What’s it about?” (in reference to a film, a book, a scuffle, an argument, and the like).
¿De qué se trata?
“To treat” in the sense of “to pay for someone else” is usually handled by ___.
invitar
“I’m treating”
Yo invito
“to be worth”
valer
“it’s worth it”
vale la pena
“it’s not worth it”
no vale la pena
“How much is it?” (with valer)
¿Cuánto vale?
Another good use of _____, when it’s preceded by más, is to translate English phrases that use “better” or “had better”
valer
“You’d better get out of here.” (valer)
Más te vale irte
“We’d better ask” (valer)
Más vale preguntar
“Better late than never” (valer)
Más vale tarde que nunca
In Spain and less so elsewhere, ___ by itself is a common interjection for “all right” or “okay.”
vale
“I couldn’t care less.” (valer)
Me vale- This is especially true in Mexico (it is somewhat crude)
“He doesn’t give a damn.”
Le vale- Common in Mexico, it’s crudeness comes from the fact that it’s a shortened and therefore euphemistic from of another phrase, which you’ll have to read about in Chapter 10.
