Breakdown of El espectador trata de descifrar la intención del pintor.
de
from / of
el pintor
the painter
descifrar
to decipher
tratar de
to try to
el espectador
spectator
la intención
intention
Questions & Answers about El espectador trata de descifrar la intención del pintor.
Why is it trata de and not se trata de in this sentence?
Here, we have a specific, active subject (El espectador) making an effort to do something. When a specific person is trying to perform an action, we use the personal verb tratar de. The impersonal tratarse de is used to say what a thing is about, for example: El cuadro se trata de un rey (The painting is about a king).
Do I always need de after tratar when saying to try to do something?
Yes. When tratar means to attempt or try to do an action, it must always be followed by the preposition de and an infinitive verb, which in this case is descifrar.
Could I use intentar instead of tratar de here?
Yes, absolutely! El espectador intenta descifrar means the exact same thing. Just remember that intentar connects directly to the infinitive without a preposition, whereas tratar always requires de.
Espectador usually makes me think of sports or a performance. Is it common to use it for someone looking at a static painting?
Yes, in Spanish, espectador is used more broadly than the English word spectator. It refers to a viewer or onlooker of any visual experience, including observing a piece of art in a gallery or museum.
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