About (the preposition)

About (the preposition)
 

I talked about the Great Depression.
The newspaper article was about the Great Depression.
The book is about the Great Depression.
The play is about the Great Depression.
Her granddaughter asked her about the Great Depression.
She told her about the Great Depression.

In Spanish, sometimes I see "sobre", sometimes I see "tratar" sometimes I see "acerca de", and sometimes I see just "de" for our idea of "about" in this kind of context. (Are there others?)

Are there certain contexts that require "sobre" or "tratar" or "acerca de" or just "de"?

Look at what Perikles posted here: http://forums.tomisimo.org/showthrea...ghlight=tratar

:)

to be about = tratar de / tratar sobre (historia, argumento, libro, artículo)

about = sobre

we use "por" when you are asking, and asking about the state or whereabouts of someone of something (and very informally to ask about general information as it only sets the subject)

Le preguntó por su hermano.
Le preguntó por la Gran Depresión (informal, meaning ---> le dijo "cuéntame sobre la Gran Depresión" / le pidió que le explicara qué había sido la Gran Depresión)

So "acerca de" and "de" are used incorrectly as "about"? I swear that I've seen them used in that context recently.... ??? :(

They're not used incorrectly (check your bilingual dictionary and you'll see the huge list of expressions to translate "about"), but it depends on the kind of sentence.
Btw, "tratar sobre" is not a translation for "about" but for "to be about" (like in the case of book, a play, etc. dealing with a certain topic). I prefer to leave "tratar de" for "to try and do something", but there are many people who say "Este libro trata de las familias que perdieron a sus hijos en la guerra", for example.

...y acerca de tu examen: lo vamos a poner para la semana que viene.
...y con respecto a tu examen: lo vamos a poner para la semana que viene.
...and about your test: we'll set it for next week.

Well, I thought that there were several words for "about" in the dictionary, but it looked like Chileno and Alec only used "sobre" and "tratar"....

Anyway, I was just wondering if there are particular contexts for each. For example, I understand that "tratar" is a verb, and means "to be about", but is it used in particular circumstances ... or would it always be acceptable to exchange it for "es sobre"?

I just wonder if, for example, "libros" are always "trata" ... or "decir" always goes with "sobre" ... or "hablar" always goes with "de" or something ... or can you say "este libro es sobre" or "este libro trata" or "este libro es acerca de" interchangeably?

Este libro se trata de las....

Este libro trata sobre las ...

Así se usa por allá, aunque si he notado que la gente por acá lo dice como tú dijiste.

Okay, here is what my bilingual dictionary says:

There are other meanings, but these are the ones I'm interested in.

They don't give "de" as an option, but I know I've read it ... something like "Ella habla de su anillo de oro."

Also, they give "sobre" as a definition, but don't use it in any of the examples.

And, as I said, I don't know if "sobre", "acerca de", and "de" can be interchangeably used in all cases, or if there are specific contexts required for each - I can't tell from this dictionary entry.

Finally, can "tratar" be used in any situation where English would use "to be about"? The test is about ... the book is about ... the play is about ... the conversation is about ... etc.?

Thanks for bearing with me on these questions. I find that I am always afraid to say something is "about" something because I don't know which word to use.....

"Hablar de" is correct in "talk about".
I think you have found several examples in the use of "sobre" with other verbs, so I guess you will just have to make up examples you can think in English and venture ways to express them in Spanish, so you can start having a clearer idea of "about" and its equivalences. :)

Maybe this will help....

This was cut out from your post.

about2 preposición
a. (concerning) sobre, acerca de;
what's the play ~? ¿de qué se trata la obra?; ¿Acerca de qué es la obra?
he wants to see you about something quiere verte acerca de or por algo;
~ tonight: are you coming? (con) respecto a lo de esta noche ¿vas a venir?;Acerca de esta noche ¿vas a venir?
what's so unusual ~ that? ¿qué tiene eso de raro?;
what was all that shouting ~? ¿a qué venían todos esos gritos?; ¿De qué se trata (todo) ese griterío?
what ~ Helen? isn't she coming? ¿y Helen? ¿no viene?; ¿Y qué con Helen? ¿No viene?
I don't know what to buy her — what ~ a record? no sé qué comprarle — ¿qué te parece or qué tal un disco?;
she won — how ~ that! ganó — ¡pues qué te parece! or ¡pues mira tú! -¿Qué tál? (este no sé si se usa solo en Chile?
b. (pertaining to): there's something ~ him that I don't like tiene un no sé qué or algo que no me gusta Hay algo (acerca de)/(respecto a) él que no me gusta.