The preterite of trabajar is used to express when someone worked at a specific time or for a defined period in the past. For example, when you want to say “I worked at the company for five years” – “Trabajé en la empresa por cinco años.”
This is a regular -ar verb in the preterite tense. It follows the standard -ar conjugation pattern without any stem changes or spelling adjustments.
Conjugations
Conjugations of Trabajar (to work) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):
| Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Yo | trabajé |
| Tú | trabajaste |
| Él / Ella / Usted | trabajó |
| Nosotros / Nosotras | trabajamos |
| Vosotros / Vosotras | trabajasteis |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | trabajaron |
Boost Your Memorization with Audio!
We’ve included audio recordings of the the conjugations of Trabajar (to work) in the Preterite (Past) Tense to help you learn faster.
Pro Tip: Play the audio on a loop as you study the chart. This repetition will solidify the correct conjugations in your memory.
Usage of Trabajar in the Preterite (Past) Tense
The Preterite of trabajar indicates completed periods of work.
To work (completed period): Describes a finished period of working, for example Trabajé diez horas ayer (I worked ten hours yesterday), or Trabajaron en el proyecto todo el mes (They worked on the project all month).
To function/operate: Used for how something performed, for example La máquina trabajó perfectamente (The machine worked perfectly).
Examples
Examples of Trabajar in the Preterite (Past) Tense
Trabajé hasta tarde anoche. (I worked late last night.)
¿Dónde trabajaste antes de aquí? (Where did you work before here?)
El equipo trabajó arduamente en el proyecto. (The team worked hard on the project.)
Trabajamos juntos durante cinco años. (We worked together for five years.)
Los voluntarios trabajaron sin descanso. (The volunteers worked tirelessly.)
Trabajé como camarero durante la universidad. (I worked as a waiter during college.)
¿Trabajaste ayer? (Did you work yesterday?)
El artista trabajó en la obra durante meses. (The artist worked on the piece for months.)
Trabajamos toda la noche para terminar. (We worked all night to finish.)
Los obreros trabajaron bajo el sol. (The workers worked under the sun.)
Trabajé en varios proyectos simultáneamente. (I worked on several projects simultaneously.)
¿Por qué trabajaste tanto? (Why did you work so much?)
El científico trabajó en su investigación por años. (The scientist worked on his research for years.)
Trabajamos desde casa durante la pandemia. (We worked from home during the pandemic.)
Los estudiantes trabajaron en equipo. (The students worked as a team.)
Conjugations with English Translations
Conjugations of Trabajar (to work) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Yo trabajé | I worked |
| Tú trabajaste | You worked |
| Él / Ella / Usted trabajó | He / She / You (formal) worked |
| Nosotros / Nosotras trabajamos | We worked |
| Vosotros / Vosotras trabajasteis | You all worked |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes trabajaron | They / You all (formal) worked |
This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American Spanish, click here
Synonyms
The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.