This is the 12670th most frequent Portuguese word.
tratavam
"Tratavam" means "they treated" or "they dealt with."
In this example, 'tratavam-se' is a reflexive construction illustrating that the matters under discussion were considered important.
Tratavam-se de questões importantes para o projeto.
These were important issues for the project.
In this sentence, 'tratavam' refers to the past continuous action of 'treating'.
Eles tratavam a todos com muito respeito.
They treated everyone with great respect.
Here, 'tratavam' conveys the meaning of 'caring for' or 'medically attending to' in the past continuous tense.