What is it about?
To ask what a movie, a book or a program is about, Spanish uses tratar de: ¿De qué trata? The answer keeps the same verb and puts the topic after de.
| What is the movie about? | ¿De qué trata la película? |
| The book is about the war. | El libro trata de la guerra. |
In conversation in Spain you will also hear ¿De qué va? (Va de una familia rica).
You already know tratar de + an infinitive, to try to (Trato de dormir). The word after de usually tells them apart: an infinitive means try, a noun means be about.
Words you know, new meanings
| word | you know | new here |
|---|---|---|
| el papel | the paper | the role, the part |
| la obra | the play | the work (of art, of a writer) |
| el cielo | the sky | heaven |
| la pista | — | the clue, the hint |
| la acción | — | the action |
Roles and works
In a play or a movie, el papel is the part an actor has, and hacer el papel de is to play someone:
| My brother has a small part in the play. | Mi hermano tiene un papel pequeño en la obra. |
Here la obra is still the play. With a painter, a writer or a composer, it is usually one of their works:
| I have read all the works of that author. | He leído todas las obras de ese autor. |
Una obra de arte is a work of art, and people say it about a good cake too.
Clues and heaven
La pista is what helps you find an answer, in a crime story or in a quiz:
| The police have found a clue. | La policía ha encontrado una pista. |
El cielo is the sky above you, and heaven in a belief or a story. With ir al cielo or estar en el cielo about a person, it usually means heaven:
| Do you believe in heaven? | ¿Crees en el cielo? |
