When discussing legal documents, disputes, or intellectual property, you will often need to explain what a situation is about. In Portuguese, we use the formal impersonal construction tratar-se de to mean "it is a matter of" or "it concerns".
The Impersonal "Tratar-se de"
Because it is an impersonal expression, tratar-se de is always conjugated in the third-person singular. In simple affirmative sentences, the pronoun se attaches to the end of the verb with a hyphen.
| It is a matter of intellectual property. | Trata-se de propriedade intelectual. |
Keep in mind that the preposition de will contract with definite and indefinite articles that follow it, just as it does with other verbs (e.g., de + a = da).
| It is a matter of the intellectual property that the author claims. | Trata-se da propriedade intelectual que o autor reivindica. |
Pronoun Placement with "Não" and "Que"
Like other pronouns in Portuguese, the word se gets pulled in front of the verb by certain "magnet" words.
- After negative words like não (not), use não se trata de.
- After conjunctions like que (that), use que se trata de.
| The company states that it is a matter of a violation. | A empresa afirma que se trata de uma violação. |
| It is obvious that it concerns plagiarism. | É óbvio que se trata de plágio. |
| It is not a matter of a commercial secret. | Não se trata de um segredo comercial. |
Legal Disputes and Different Tenses
You can use this construction alongside formal legal vocabulary like o litígio (the dispute) and a indemnização (the compensation).
| In this dispute, it is a matter of a huge compensation. | Neste litígio, trata-se de uma indemnização enorme. |
It can also be conjugated in other tenses, such as the past tense (tratou-se de), while remaining in the third-person singular.
| In that meeting, it was a matter of a commercial agreement. | Naquela reunião, tratou-se de um acordo comercial. |