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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, Trabajaba en una oficina. (I used to work in an office.)

Trabajar is a regular -ar verb, so its Imperfect conjugations follow the typical pattern for that 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, 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 todos los veranos. (As a child, I used to work in the fields every summer.)

Description in the past: For example, Mi padre trabajaba mucho para mantenernos. (My father worked a lot to support us.)

Idiomatic usage: For example, ¡Trabajaba como un burro! (I was working like a mule! – meaning working very hard.)

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.)

Ellos trabajaban duro para ahorrar dinero. (They were working hard to save money.)

¿Trabajabas los fines de semana? (Were you working on weekends?)

Nosotros trabajábamos en equipo para terminar el proyecto. (We were working as a team to finish the project.)

Tú trabajabas mucho, ¿no? (You were working a lot, weren’t you?)

Ella trabajaba en el restaurante por las noches. (She used to work at the restaurant at night.)

Vosotros trabajabais demasiado, necesitabais un descanso. (You all were working too much, you needed a break.)

Ustedes trabajaban hasta tarde, ¿verdad? (You all were working late, right?)

Él trabajaba en la construcción cuando era joven. (He used to work in construction when he was young.)

¿Trabajabas en casa o en la oficina? (Were you working from home or at the office?)

Ellas trabajaban en el mismo proyecto. (They were working on the same project.)

Yo trabajaba por las mañanas y estudiaba por las tardes. (I used to work in the mornings and study in the afternoons.)

Vosotros trabajabais muy duro, merecíais un aumento. (You all were working very hard, you deserved a raise.)

Nosotros trabajábamos en equipo para cumplir los plazos. (We were working as a team to meet the deadlines.)

Ellos trabajaban en un proyecto ambicioso. (They were working on an ambitious project.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

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

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American 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.