Introduction
Trabajar is the Spanish verb for "to work". It is a regular AR verb, and one of the most popular 100 Spanish verbs. Read on below to see how it is conjugated in the 18 major Spanish tenses!
Similar verbs to trabajar include: funcionar, resultar.
| Spanish | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | trabajar | to work |
| Past participle | trabajado | worked |
| Gerund | trabajando | working |
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Indicative Tenses of Trabajar
Trabajar in the Indicative Present
The Indicative Present of trabajar is used to talk about situations, events or thoughts that are happening now or in the near future. It is also used to talk about facts and truths. For example, "trabajo en una cuidad grande", meaning "I work in a big city".
In Spanish, the Indicative Present is known as "El Presente".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | trabajo | I work |
| Tú | trabajas | you work |
| Ella / Él / Usted | trabaja | s/he works, you (formal) works |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | trabajamos | we work |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | trabajáis | you (plural) work |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | trabajan | they work, you (plural formal) work |
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Trabajar in the Indicative Preterite
The Indicative Preterite of trabajar is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, "trabajé en una cuidad grande", meaning "I worked in a big city".
In Spanish, the Indicative Preterite is known as "El Pretérito Indefinido".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | trabajé | I worked |
| Tú | trabajaste | you worked |
| Ella / Él / Usted | trabajó | s/he worked, you (formal) worked |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | trabajamos | we worked |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | trabajasteis | you (plural) worked |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | trabajaron | they worked, you (plural formal) worked |
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Trabajar in the Indicative Imperfect
The Indicative Imperfect of trabajar is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, "trabajaba en una cuidad grande", meaning "I used to work in a big city".
In Spanish, the Indicative Imperfect is known as "El Pretérito Imperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | trabajaba | I used to work |
| Tú | trabajabas | you used to work |
| Ella / Él / Usted | trabajaba | s/he used to work, you (formal) used to work |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | trabajábamos | we used to work |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | trabajabais | you (plural) used to work |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | trabajaban | they used to work, you (plural formal) used to work |
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Trabajar in the Indicative Present Continuous
The Indicative Present Continuous of trabajar is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, "estoy trabajando en una cuidad grande", meaning "I am working in a big city".
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Continuous is known as "El Presente Progresivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | estoy trabajando | I am working |
| Tú | estás trabajando | you are working |
| Ella / Él / Usted | está trabajando | s/he is working, you (formal) are working |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | estamos trabajando | we are working |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | estáis trabajando | you (plural) are working |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | están trabajando | they are working, you (plural formal) are working |
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Trabajar in the Indicative Informal Future
The Indicative Informal Future of trabajar is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, "voy a trabajar en una cuidad grande", meaning "I am going to work in a big city".
In Spanish, the Indicative Informal Future is known as "El Futuro Próximo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | voy a trabajar | I am going to work |
| Tú | vas a trabajar | you are going to work |
| Ella / Él / Usted | va a trabajar | s/he is going to work, you (formal) are going to work |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | vamos a trabajar | we are going to work |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | vais a trabajar | you (plural) are going to work |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | van a trabajar | they are going to work, you (plural formal) are going to work |
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Trabajar in the Indicative Future
The Indicative Future of trabajar is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, "trabajaré en una cuidad grande", meaning "I will work in a big city".
In Spanish, the Indicative Future is known as "El Futuro Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | trabajaré | I will work |
| Tú | trabajarás | you will work |
| Ella / Él / Usted | trabajará | s/he will work, you (formal) will work |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | trabajaremos | we will work |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | trabajaréis | you (plural) will work |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | trabajarán | they will work, you (plural formal) will work |
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Trabajar in the Indicative Conditional
The Indicative Conditional of trabajar is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, "trabajaría en una cuidad grande", meaning "I would work in a big city".
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional is known as "El Condicional Simple".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | trabajaría | I would work |
| Tú | trabajarías | you would work |
| Ella / Él / Usted | trabajaría | s/he would work, you (formal) would work |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | trabajaríamos | we would work |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | trabajaríais | you (plural) would work |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | trabajarían | they would work, you (plural formal) would work |
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Trabajar in the Indicative Present Perfect
The Indicative Present Perfect of trabajar is used to describe actions that started recently (in the past) and are still happening now or things that have been done recently. For example, "he trabajado en una cuidad grande", meaning "I have worked in a big city".
In Spanish, the Indicative Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he trabajado | I have worked |
| Tú | has trabajado | you have worked |
| Ella / Él / Usted | ha trabajado | s/he has worked, you (formal) have worked |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hemos trabajado | we have worked |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habéis trabajado | you (plural) have worked |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | han trabajado | they have worked, you (plural formal) have worked |
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Trabajar in the Indicative Past Perfect
The Indicative Past Perfect of trabajar is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, "había trabajado en una cuidad grande", meaning "I had worked in a big city".
In Spanish, the Indicative Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | había trabajado | I had worked |
| Tú | habías trabajado | you had worked |
| Ella / Él / Usted | había trabajado | s/he had worked, you (formal) had worked |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habíamos trabajado | we had worked |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habíais trabajado | you (plural) had worked |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habían trabajado | they had worked, you (plural formal) had worked |
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Trabajar in the Indicative Future Perfect
The Indicative Future Perfect of trabajar is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, "habré trabajado en una cuidad grande", meaning "I will have worked in a big city".
In Spanish, the Indicative Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habré trabajado | I will have worked |
| Tú | habrás trabajado | you will have worked |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habrá trabajado | s/he will have worked, you (formal) will have worked |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habremos trabajado | we will have worked |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habréis trabajado | you (plural) will have worked |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrán trabajado | they will have worked, you (plural formal) will have worked |
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Trabajar in the Indicative Conditional Perfect
The Indicative Conditional Perfect of trabajar is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, "habría trabajado en una cuidad grande", meaning "I would have worked in a big city".
In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional Perfect is known as "El Condicional Perfecto".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habría trabajado | I would have worked |
| Tú | habrías trabajado | you would have worked |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habría trabajado | s/he would have worked, you (formal) would have worked |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habríamos trabajado | we would have worked |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habríais trabajado | you (plural) would have worked |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrían trabajado | they would have worked, you (plural formal) would have worked |
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Subjunctive Tenses of Trabajar
Trabajar in the Subjunctive Present
The Subjunctive Present is used to talk about situations of uncertainty, or emotions such as wishes, desires and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood due to the uncertainty of the events which are being spoken about. For example, "trabaje", meaning "I work".
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present is known as "El Presente de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | trabaje | I work |
| Tú | trabajes | you work |
| Ella / Él / Usted | trabaje | s/he works, you (formal) works |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | trabajemos | we work |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | trabajéis | you (plural) work |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | trabajen | they work, you (plural formal) work |
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Trabajar in the Subjunctive Imperfect
The Subjunctive Imperfect is used to speak about unlikely or uncertain events in the past or to cast an opinion (emotional) about something that happened in the past. For example, "trabajara", meaning "I worked".
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Imperfect is known as "El Imperfecto Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | trabajara | I worked |
| Tú | trabajaras | you worked |
| Ella / Él / Usted | trabajara | s/he worked, you (formal) worked |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | trabajáramos | we worked |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | trabajarais | you (plural) worked |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | trabajaran | they worked, you (plural formal) worked |
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Trabajar in the Subjunctive Future
The Subjunctive Future is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that may happen in the future. Note that this is very rarely used in Spanish. For example, "trabajare", meaning "I will work".
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | trabajare | I will work |
| Tú | trabajares | you will work |
| Ella / Él / Usted | trabajare | s/he will work, you (formal) will work |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | trabajáremos | we will work |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | trabajareis | you (plural) will work |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | trabajaren | they will work, you (plural formal) will work |
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Trabajar in the Subjunctive Present Perfect
The Subjunctive Present Perfect is used to describe past actions or events that are still connected to the present day and to speak about an action that will have happened by a certain time in the future. For example, "haya trabajado", meaning "I have worked".
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | haya trabajado | I have worked |
| Tú | hayas trabajado | you have worked |
| Ella / Él / Usted | haya trabajado | s/he has worked, you (formal) have worked |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hayamos trabajado | we have worked |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hayáis trabajado | you (plural) have worked |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hayan trabajado | they have worked, you (plural formal) have worked |
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Trabajar in the Subjunctive Past Perfect
The Subjunctive Past Perfect is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that occurred before other actions/events in the past. For example, "hubiera trabajado", meaning "I had worked".
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera trabajado | I had worked |
| Tú | hubieras trabajado | you had worked |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiera trabajado | s/he had worked, you (formal) had worked |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéramos trabajado | we had worked |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubierais trabajado | you (plural) had worked |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieran trabajado | they had worked, you (plural formal) had worked |
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Trabajar in the Subjunctive Future Perfect
The Subjunctive Future Perfect is used to speak about something that will have happened if a hypothetical situations occurs in the future. Note that this is very rarely used in Spanish. For example, "hubiere trabajado", meaning "I will have worked".
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere trabajado | I will have worked |
| Tú | hubieres trabajado | you will have worked |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiere trabajado | s/he will have worked, you (formal) will have worked |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéremos trabajado | we will have worked |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubiereis trabajado | you (plural) will have worked |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieren trabajado | they will have worked, you (plural formal) will have worked |
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Imperative Tenses of Trabajar
Trabajar in the Imperative Affirmative
The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, "trabaje", meaning "(to you formal) work!".
In Spanish, the Imperative Affirmative is known as "El Imperativo Afirmativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | trabaja | (to you) work! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | trabaje | (to you formal) work! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | trabajemos | let's work! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | trabajad | (to you plural) work! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | trabajen | (to you plural formal) work! |
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Trabajar in the Imperative Negative
The Imperative Negative is used to give orders and commands, telling someone not to do something. For example, "no trabaje", meaning "(to you formal) don't work!".
In Spanish, the Imperative Negative is known as "El Imperativo Negativo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | no trabajes | (to you) don't work! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | no trabaje | (to you formal) don't work! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | no trabajemos | let's not work! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | no trabajéis | (to you plural) don't work! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no trabajen | (to you plural formal) don't work! |
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Example sentences and usage
- Trabajé en una oficina de correo durante las vacaciones de verano. I worked in a post office during the summer vacation.
- Trabajo hasta los domingos. I work even on Sunday.
- Trabajas muy duro estos días. ¿No estás cansado? You work too hard these days. Aren't you tired?
- ¿Has visitado alguna vez la oficina en la que trabaja tu padre? Have you ever visited the office where your father works?
- Espero que trabajes más duro. I expect you to work harder.
- Mientras trabajaba en un banco, enseñaba economía en una universidad. While employed at the bank, he taught economics at college.
- La gente que trabaja regularmente en sitios abiertos no sufre de insomnio. People who regularly work in the open air do not suffer from sleeplessness.
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Downloadable cheat sheets
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Practice Trabajar conjugations (free mobile app)
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FAQs
Conjugating Trabajar in all Spanish tenses | Ella Verbs App? ›
To conjugate a verb in the present indicative, remove the infinitive ending from the regular verb, in this case -ar , -er or -ir, and replace it with an ending indicating "the person" who performs the action of the verb. For example, the word "caminar" (walk) is the infinitive of a common regular verb that ends in -ar.
What is the conjugation for trabajar? ›| yo | trabajo |
|---|---|
| tú | trabajas |
| él/ella | trabaja |
| nosotros/as | trabajamos |
| vosotros/as | trabajáis |
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- Simple present. I am. ...
- Present progressive/continuous. I am being. ...
- Simple past. I was/were. ...
- Past progressive/continuous. I was being. ...
- Present perfect simple. I have been. ...
- Present perfect progressive/continuous. I have been being. ...
- Past perfect. I had been. ...
- Past perfect progressive/continuous.
To conjugate a verb in the present indicative, remove the infinitive ending from the regular verb, in this case -ar , -er or -ir, and replace it with an ending indicating "the person" who performs the action of the verb. For example, the word "caminar" (walk) is the infinitive of a common regular verb that ends in -ar.
What is the yo form conjugation of trabajar in the present tense? ›| Personal Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Yo | trabajo |
| Tu | trabajas |
| El/Ella | trabaja |
| Nosotros | trabajamos |
In Spanish, we use the verb trabajar (to work) in El Presente to say: I work ..., You work... or What do you do? Have a look: Yo trabajo en una oficina.
What is the hardest tense to learn in Spanish? ›1. Subjunctive. This might be one of the hardest things to get. After being bombarded with tens of new tenses (in the indicative), you learn there's a whole other dimension of tenses called the subjuntivo.
How long does it take to memorize Spanish? ›To explain it a bit more, if you spend 3 hours every day learning Spanish, you'll achieve fluency in around six months. On the other hand, if you reduce your Spanish time to one hour a day, it will take about 1.5 years to learn, according to FSI.
Which is the easiest tense to learn in Spanish? ›As we mentioned, ER and IR verbs have the exact same conjugation in the past tense. And we have even more good news: The simple future tense in Spanish is the easiest of the three!
What is the rule of all tenses? ›
| Tenses | Tenses Rule |
|---|---|
| Present Simple tense | Subject + V1 + s/es + Object (Singular) Subject + V1 + Object (Plural) |
| Present Perfect tense | Subject + has + V3 + Object (Singular) Subject + have + V3 + Object (Plural) |
| Present Continuous tense | Subject + is/am/are + V1 + ing + object |
The general rule of thumb for conjugating verbs is that if there's one person, place, or thing as the subject (not just one noun), then the verb is conjugated in the singular. If there are multiple people, places, or things, then the verb is conjugated in the plural.
What are the 3 conjugations of the verb be? ›| To be verbs: | Function: |
|---|---|
| be | bare infinitive |
| am, is, are | present tense |
| was, were | past tense |
| been | past participle |
Vosotros is used when an individual person or speaker is addressing a group of 2 or more people. Vosotros in English stands for “you” as the plural “you and others.”
What are the 6 conjugations? ›To be verb conjugation
In English, we have six different persons: first person singular (I), second person singular (you), third person singular (he/she/it/one), first person plural (we), second person plural (you), and third person plural (they). We must conjugate a verb for each person.
The three main tenses you should learn first in Spanish are the present (el presente), the past (also called the preterite, el pretérito), and the future (el futuro). They're the ones you'll run into most. You can get a lot of things across from these tenses and still be understood in the beginning.
How do you conjugate trabajar in past tense? ›Trabajar in the Indicative Preterite
The Indicative Preterite of trabajar is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, "trabajé en una cuidad grande", meaning "I worked in a big city".
According to the Spanish conjugation rules, different forms of the verb are created by removing the infinitive ending, such as ‒ar, ‒er, or ‒ir, and replacing it with the required ending that specifies who is performing an action depending on the used tense and mood (indicative, subjunctive or imperative).
What is the word conjugation in Spanish? ›[ˌkɒndʒʊˈɡeɪʃən ] (Linguistics) conjugación f.
What is the difference between trabaje and trabaja? ›They are not different based on gender but based on who is doing the activity. So trabajo is for me (yo) and trabaja is for him, her and singular formal (él, ella, usted).