trabajaba
trah-bah-HAH-bah
Quick Reference
📝 In Action
Cuando era niño, mi padre trabajaba en una fábrica.
A2When he was a child, my father used to work in a factory.
Yo trabajaba desde casa antes de la pandemia.
B1I was working from home before the pandemic.
Usted trabajaba aquí, ¿verdad?
A1You (formal) used to work here, right?
💡 Grammar Points
Imperfect Tense Function
'Trabajaba' is the Imperfect tense, which describes ongoing actions, habits, or conditions in the past. Think of it as 'was working' or 'used to work'.
Regular AR Verb Pattern
This conjugation is perfectly regular for all '-ar' verbs. Once you know the pattern for 'trabajar' (ABA, ABAS, ABA...), you know it for hundreds of others like 'hablar' or 'cantar'.
❌ Common Pitfalls
Imperfect vs. Preterite
Mistake: "Using 'trabajó' (completed action) when describing a past habit: 'Cada día, él trabajó mucho.'"
Correction: Use 'trabajaba' (habitual action): 'Cada día, él trabajaba mucho.' The Imperfect shows the routine, not the single completed event.
⭐ Usage Tips
Keywords for Imperfect
If you see time words like 'siempre' (always), 'a menudo' (often), or 'cada día' (every day) when talking about the past, you almost always need the Imperfect form like 'trabajaba'.
🔄 Conjugations
indicative
present
imperfect
preterite
subjunctive
present
imperfect
✏️ Quick Practice
💡 Quick Quiz: trabajaba
Question 1 of 1
Which sentence correctly uses 'trabajaba' to describe a continuous background action?
📚 More Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between 'trabajaba' and 'trabajó'?
'Trabajaba' (Imperfect) describes past actions that were continuous, repeated habits, or background descriptions (e.g., 'I used to work there'). 'Trabajó' (Preterite) describes a single, completed action in the past (e.g., 'He worked for eight hours yesterday').