Probar vs Intentar vs Tratar de — What’s the Real Difference?

Introduction:

If you’re learning Spanish, you’ve probably come across the verbs probar, intentar, and tratar de — all of which can be translated as «to try» in English. However, they don’t always mean the same thing, and they’re not interchangeable in every situation.

While intentar and tratar de often work as synonyms when talking about making an effort to do something, probar is used in different contexts — like tasting food or testing if something works. Understanding when to use each one will help you sound much more natural in Spanish.

In this article, we’ll break down the differences between these three verbs, explain how and when to use them, and give you clear examples to guide you along the way.

1. Probar – To Try / To Test / To Taste

The Spanish verb probar can have different meanings depending on the context. Here are the most common uses:

a) To taste food or drinks

Use probar when you want to taste something for the first time or simply experience the flavor.

• Ayer probé el mejor chocolate de mi vida.
  → Yesterday I tried the best chocolate of my life.
  
• ¿Te gusta el mezcal? — Nunca lo he probado, pero me gustaría probarlo.
  → Do you like mezcal? — I’ve never tried it, but I’d like to.
  

👉 Common phrase: When you’re eating something and want to offer it to someone, you’ll often say:
“¿Quieres probar?”
→ Do you want to try (it)?

This is a very natural and common way to offer a taste of your food or drink in Spanish.

b) To test something / see if it works

You can also use probar when you want to check if something works or functions properly.

• Me compré un coche pero aún no lo he probado.
  → I bought a car, but I haven’t tested it yet.
  
• Vamos a probar el nuevo software antes de usarlo oficialmente.
  → We’re going to test the new software before using it officially.
  

c) To prove / verify something

In formal or legal contexts, probar means to prove or demonstrate that something is true.

• La policía no pudo probar su culpabilidad.
  → The police couldn’t prove his guilt.
  
• Tienes que probar lo que dices con evidencia.
  → You have to prove what you’re saying with evidence.

2. Probarse – To Try On (Clothes)

When the verb probar is reflexive (probarse), it’s usually used when talking about trying on clothes or accessories.

• Ese vestido me gusta, me lo voy a probar.
  → I like that dress, I’m going to try it on.
  
• ¿Te vas a probar esos zapatos o ya sabes tu talla?
  → Are you going to try on those shoes or do you already know your size?

3. Intentar vs. Tratar de – To Try (to do something)

Both intentar and tratar de can be translated as to try when referring to making an effort to do something. In most everyday situations, they are interchangeable — the main difference is grammatical, not semantic.

• Intentar is followed directly by an infinitive verb:
  → intentar + infinitive
  
• Tratar requires the preposition de before the infinitive:
  → tratar de + infinitive
  

Let’s take a look at some examples:

• ¿Has corrido un maratón? – Have you ever run a marathon?
  → No, pero me gustaría intentarlo. – No, but I’d like to try.
  → No, pero me gustaría tratar de correr uno. – No, but I’d like to try to run one.
  
• Deberíamos intentar hablar más español –We should try to speak more Spanish.
  → Deberíamos intentar hablar más español. – We should try to speak more Spanish.
  → Deberíamos tratar de hablar más español. – We should try to speak more Spanish.
  

⚠️ Note: Sometimes only intentar is appropriate

There are certain expressions where only intentar sounds natural because they don’t follow the “verb + infinitive” structure or because they are set phrases:

• Try again!
  → ¡Inténtalo otra vez!
  ✅ Correct
  ❌ Trata de otra vez → This sounds unnatural and is not used.
  
• We can try.
  → Podemos intentarlo.
  ✅ Correct
  ❌ Podemos tratar de → Incomplete. You would need to say Podemos tratar de hacer algo, specifying what you’re trying to do.
  

In these cases, intentar works better because it can stand alone or be used with pronouns more flexibly (intentarlo, inténtalo, etc.), while tratar de always requires a verb after de to make sense.

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4. Tratar – To Be About / To Treat (someone or something)

When used without “de” in the structure tratar + noun, the verb tratar means to treat someone or something — for example, in a medical or personal context. But when talking about the subject or theme of something (like a movie or a book), you’ll often hear it with «de» — and that’s where things can get confusing.

a) To be about (used with movies, books, etc.)

• ¿De qué trata la película?
  → What is the movie about?
  
• La novela trata de la vida en un pueblo pequeño.
  → The novel is about life in a small town.
  

👉 Even though tratar de usually means to try to, in these cases it has nothing to do with effort or intention. It’s simply part of the natural Spanish construction when we talk about the topic or theme of something. You can think of tratar de in this context more like «to deal with» or «to be about» in English.

b) To treat (a person or illness)

• El doctor me trató muy bien.
  → The doctor treated me very well.
  
• Están tratando a los pacientes con un nuevo medicamento.
  → They are treating the patients with a new medicine.
  

So to summarize:

• tratar de + infinitive = to try to do something
  
• tratar de + noun (as in books or movies) = to be about / to deal with
  
• tratar + noun/person = to treat (someone or something)
  

Conclusion:

Although probar, intentar, and tratar de can all be translated as «to try» in English, they each have their own specific uses in Spanish. Understanding the differences between them will help you avoid common mistakes and sound much more natural when speaking.

• Use probar when you’re talking about tasting food, trying something out, or testing if something works. It’s also used in formal contexts to mean «to prove.»
  
  • ¿Quieres probar? → Do you want to try (a bite, a drink, etc.)?
    
• Use intentar or tratar de when you want to say «to try to do something.» They are often interchangeable, but:
  
  • intentar is simpler grammatically (just add an infinitive),
    
  • tratar always needs the preposition de before the verb.
    
• In some cases, only intentar sounds natural — for example:
  
  • ¡Inténtalo otra vez! ✅
    
  • ❌ Trata de otra vez (incorrect)
    
• Be careful: tratar without de has other meanings, like:
  
  • La película trata de amor → The movie is about love.
    
  • El doctor me trató bien → The doctor treated me well.