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Conjugation Chart of “Trabajar” (to work) in the Imperfect Tense

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Understanding the Imperfect Tense of “Trabajar”

The Imperfect Tense of Trabajar is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example, Yo trabajaba en una oficina. (I used to work in an office.)

Trabajar is a regular -ar verb, so its conjugations in the Imperfect Tense follow the typical pattern for this verb type.

How to Use Trabajar in the Imperfect Tense

The imperfect tense of trabajar is used to describe ongoing, repeated or habitual actions in the past.

Ongoing action in the past: For example, Yo trabajaba en la oficina cuando sonó el teléfono. (I was working in the office when the phone rang.)

Repeated or habitual action in the past: For example, De niño, trabajaba en el campo durante las vacaciones. (As a child, I used to work in the fields during vacations.)

Description in the past: For example, Mi abuelo trabajaba muy duro para mantenernos. (My grandfather worked very hard to support us.)

Idiomatic usage: For example, ¡Trabajá, flojo! (Get to work, lazy bum!)

Real Life Examples of Trabajar in the Imperfect Tense

Yo trabajaba en una oficina antes de mudarme. (I used to work in an office before moving.)

Ella trabajaba demasiado y no tenía tiempo libre. (She used to work too much and had no free time.)

Cuando éramos jóvenes, trabajábamos en el campo durante el verano. (When we were young, we used to work in the fields during the summer.)

Mis padres trabajaban en la misma empresa por años. (My parents used to work at the same company for years.)

¿Trabajabas los fines de semana en tu antiguo empleo? (Did you use to work weekends at your old job?)

Antes de tener hijos, trabajábamos hasta tarde todas las noches. (Before having kids, we used to work late every night.)

Cuando trabajaba en la construcción, ganaba muy bien. (When I used to work in construction, I earned very well.)

Ellos trabajaban duro para ahorrar y comprar una casa. (They used to work hard to save and buy a house.)

De estudiante, trabajaba de mesero los fines de semana. (As a student, I used to work as a waiter on weekends.)

Mis abuelos trabajaban en el campo desde el amanecer. (My grandparents used to work in the fields from dawn.)

¿Trabajabas mucho cuando vivías solo? (Did you use to work a lot when you lived alone?)

Antes de jubilarse, trabajaba turnos nocturnos en la fábrica. (Before retiring, he used to work night shifts at the factory.)

Cuando trabajábamos juntos, nos divertíamos mucho. (When we used to work together, we had a lot of fun.)

En su juventud, trabajaba como guía turístico los veranos. (In his youth, he used to work as a tour guide in the summers.)

Tú trabajabas muy duro en tus estudios cuando eras niño. (You used to work very hard on your studies when you were a child.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Trabajar (to work) in the Imperfect Tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Imperfect tense is also known as the Past Imperfect, Descriptive Past, Past Progressive, or Imperfect Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Imperfecto, Copretérito, Imperfecto de Indicativo, or Pasado Descriptivo in Spanish.