trabajo en
/tɾabaxo en/from spelling rules
The English phrase 'i work on' is translated into Spanish as trabajo en.
trabajo en is used to express that you work on or in something. While English distinguishes between 'work in' (referring to a location or a field) and 'work on' (referring to a specific task), Spanish often uses trabajo en for all three: a physical location, a field of study and a specific project.
Which one should you use?
In English, 'work in' and 'work on' carry different nuances, but in Spanish, trabajo en covers both. If you wish to express the continuous present 'I am working on', you should use estoy trabajando en instead.
How does it change in a sentence?
trabajo en is the first-person singular present indicative form of the verb trabajar (to work) combined with the preposition en (in/on). For reference, trabajo is the conjugation for 'I work' and trabaja is the conjugation for 'he/she works'.
How do you pronounce it?
/tɾabaxo en/
Did you know?
- Because of its origin as a torture device, trabajar originally meant to suffer or to be in agony before it meant to perform a job.
- While trabajo en is the standard way to say 'I work on', using the verb laburar is a very common informal alternative in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, instead of saying trabajo en, people often use the verb estar with a specific field, such as estoy en la arquitectura, to mean 'I work in architecture'.
Examples in context
- Me dedico a la investigación científicaI work on scientific research
- Estoy trabajando en un nuevo proyectoI'm working on a new project
- Me dedico a hacer diseño gráficoI work on graphic design
- Trabajo en una compañía de segurosI work in an insurance company
- Me dedico al desarrollo de softwareI work on software development
- Estoy trabajando en mejorar mis habilidades lingüísticasI'm working on improving my language skills
- Trabajo en un banco.I work at a bank.
- Trabajo en un proyecto nuevo.I am working on a new project.
Example conversation
Two friends are catching up at a cafe.
- Alejandro¿Dónde trabajas ahora, María?Where do you work now, María?
- MaríaTrabajo en una empresa de tecnología.I work at a technology company.
- Alejandro¡Qué bien! Yo también trabajo en tecnología.That's great! I also work in technology.
- María¡Qué coincidencia, Alejandro!What a coincidence, Alejandro!
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
