Trabajar Conjugation in Spanish
trabajar means “work” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 42 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for working in an office, for working a lot in a week, and for working with children. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of trabajar — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo trabajo en una oficina en Madrid todos los días.” — “I work in an office in Madrid every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: trabajar
- English: to work
- Verb type: Regular -ar verb
- Irregular in: no tense — fully regular
- Gerund: trabajando
- Past participle: trabajado
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for trabajar. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | trabajo |
| tú | trabajas |
| él/ella/Ud. | trabaja |
| nosotros/as | trabajamos |
| vosotros/as | trabajáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | trabajan |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | trabajé |
| tú | trabajaste |
| él/ella/Ud. | trabajó |
| nosotros/as | trabajamos |
| vosotros/as | trabajasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | trabajaron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | trabajaba |
| tú | trabajabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | trabajaba |
| nosotros/as | trabajábamos |
| vosotros/as | trabajabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | trabajaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | trabajaré |
| tú | trabajarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | trabajará |
| nosotros/as | trabajaremos |
| vosotros/as | trabajaréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | trabajarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | trabajaría |
| tú | trabajarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | trabajaría |
| nosotros/as | trabajaríamos |
| vosotros/as | trabajaríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | trabajarían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he trabajado |
| tú | has trabajado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha trabajado |
| nosotros/as | hemos trabajado |
| vosotros/as | habéis trabajado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han trabajado |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había trabajado |
| tú | habías trabajado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había trabajado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos trabajado |
| vosotros/as | habíais trabajado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían trabajado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré trabajado |
| tú | habrás trabajado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá trabajado |
| nosotros/as | habremos trabajado |
| vosotros/as | habréis trabajado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán trabajado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría trabajado |
| tú | habrías trabajado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría trabajado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos trabajado |
| vosotros/as | habríais trabajado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían trabajado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | trabaje |
| tú | trabajes |
| él/ella/Ud. | trabaje |
| nosotros/as | trabajemos |
| vosotros/as | trabajéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | trabajen |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | trabajara |
| tú | trabajaras |
| él/ella/Ud. | trabajara |
| nosotros/as | trabajáramos |
| vosotros/as | trabajarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | trabajaran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | trabaja |
| él/ella/Ud. | trabaje |
| nosotros/as | trabajemos |
| vosotros/as | trabajad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | trabajen |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | trabajes |
| él/ella/Ud. | trabaje |
| nosotros/as | trabajemos |
| vosotros/as | trabajéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | trabajen |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | trabajando |
| Past participle | trabajado |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Yo trabajo en una oficina en Madrid todos los días.” — “I work in an office in Madrid every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú trabajaste mucho ayer.” — “You worked a lot yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él trabajaba con niños en la escuela antes.” — “He used to work with children at school before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo trabajaré en una oficina en Madrid mañana.” — “I will work in an office in Madrid tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú trabajarías mucho algún día.” — “You would work a lot someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha trabajado con niños en la escuela esta semana.” — “He has worked with children at school this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había trabajado en una oficina en Madrid antes de la fiesta.” — “I had worked in an office in Madrid before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás trabajado mucho para mañana.” — “You will have worked a lot by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría trabajado con niños en la escuela ayer.” — “He would have worked with children at school yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Es importante que yo trabaje en una oficina en Madrid.” — “It is important that i work in an office in Madrid.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. For example: “Ojalá tú trabajaras mucho.” — “I wish you worked a lot.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. The imperative of trabajar gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “¡Trabaja con niños en la escuela!” — “Work with children at school!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. The imperative of trabajar gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “No trabajes en una oficina en Madrid.” — “Do not work in an office in Madrid.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with trabajar, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo trabajo en una oficina en Madrid todos los días.” — “I work in an office in Madrid every day.”
- “Tú trabajaste mucho ayer.” — “You worked a lot yesterday.”
- “Él trabajaba con niños en la escuela antes.” — “He used to work with children at school before.”
- “Yo trabajaré mucho mañana.” — “I will work a lot tomorrow.”
- “Tú trabajarías en una oficina en Madrid algún día.” — “You would work in an office in Madrid someday.”
- “Él ha trabajado con niños en la escuela esta semana.” — “He has worked with children at school this week.”
- “Yo había trabajado en una oficina en Madrid antes de la fiesta.” — “I had worked in an office in Madrid before the party.”
- “Tú habrás trabajado mucho para mañana.” — “You will have worked a lot by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él trabaje con niños en la escuela.” — “It is important that he work with children at school.”
- “¡Trabaja en una oficina en Madrid!” — “Work in an office in Madrid!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo trabajar en una oficina en Madrid.”
✓ Right: “Yo trabajo en una oficina en Madrid.”
The infinitive trabajar never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form trabajo.
2. Confusing trabajar with estudiar
✗ Wrong: “Yo estudio en una oficina en Madrid.”
✓ Right: “Yo trabajo en una oficina en Madrid.”
Trabajar is to work; use en for the workplace.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy trabajado en una oficina en Madrid.”
✓ Right: “Yo he trabajado en una oficina en Madrid.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle trabajado.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “trabaje”
✓ Right: “trabajé”
The accent on trabajé is part of the spelling in the preterite. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Ojalá tú trabajas en una oficina en Madrid.”
✓ Right: “Ojalá tú trabajes en una oficina en Madrid.”
After ojalá Spanish needs the subjunctive, so use trabajes here, not the indicative trabajas.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo trabajé en una oficina en Madrid antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo trabajaba en una oficina en Madrid antes.”
The preterite trabajé describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect trabajaba.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on trabajar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of trabajar in the Present indicative?
- A) trabajas
- B) trabaja
- C) trabajamos
- D) trabajo
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of trabajar in the Preterite?
- A) trabajaste
- B) trabajamos
- C) trabajó
- D) trabajé
What is the nosotros/as form of trabajar in the Imperfect?
- A) trabajabais
- B) trabajábamos
- C) trabajaba
- D) trabajabas
What is the tú form of trabajar in the Future?
- A) trabajarás
- B) trabajaré
- C) trabajará
- D) trabajaremos
What is the yo form of trabajar in the Conditional?
- A) trabajarías
- B) trabajaríamos
- C) trabajaríais
- D) trabajaría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of trabajar in the Present subjunctive?
- A) trabajemos
- B) trabajéis
- C) trabaje
- D) trabajes
What is the yo form of trabajar in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) trabajarais
- B) trabajara
- C) trabajaras
- D) trabajáramos
What is the gerund of trabajar?
- A) trabajando
- B) entrando
- C) escribiendo
- D) perdiendo
What is the past participle of trabajar?
- A) entrado
- B) escrito
- C) perdido
- D) trabajado
What does trabajar mean in English?
- A) to write
- B) to lose
- C) to work
- D) to enter
Answer key
- D) trabajo — the yo form of trabajar in the present indicative is trabajo. The other options (trabajas, trabaja, trabajamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) trabajó — the él/ella/Ud. form of trabajar in the preterite is trabajó. The other options (trabajé, trabajaste, trabajamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) trabajábamos — the nosotros/as form of trabajar in the imperfect is trabajábamos. The other options (trabajaba, trabajabas, trabajaba) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) trabajarás — the tú form of trabajar in the future is trabajarás. The other options (trabajaré, trabajará, trabajaremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) trabajaría — the yo form of trabajar in the conditional is trabajaría. The other options (trabajarías, trabajaría, trabajaríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) trabaje — the él/ella/Ud. form of trabajar in the present subjunctive is trabaje. The other options (trabaje, trabajes, trabajemos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) trabajara — the yo form of trabajar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is trabajara. The other options (trabajaras, trabajara, trabajáramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) trabajando — the gerund of trabajar is trabajando; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) trabajado — the past participle of trabajar is trabajado; perfect tenses use haber + trabajado. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to work — trabajar means “to work” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does trabajar mean in English?
trabajar means “to work”. You use it for working in an office, for working a lot in a week, and for working with children. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is trabajar regular or irregular?
trabajar is regular -ar verb, with no irregular tense — it follows the regular pattern throughout. The gerund is trabajando and the past participle is trabajado.
What are the gerund and past participle of trabajar?
The gerund is trabajando — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is trabajado — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he trabajado (I have worked).
What is the difference between trabajar and estudiar?
Trabajar is to work; use en for the workplace. If you are unsure, check the full table for estudiar and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I work” in Spanish?
Say “Yo trabajo en una oficina en Madrid.” — “I work in an office in Madrid every day.” The yo form of the present is trabajo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- trabajar in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- trabajar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Entrar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Escribir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Perder conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise trabajar with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise trabajar with the interactive tool.