Palabra Lexi · common words in Spanish

How to say "work" in Spanish

"Work" in Spanish is trabajo, pronounced trah-BAH-hoh (stress on the syllable in capitals). It is a masculine noun (el trabajo, plural los trabajos).

Pronunciation is spelled out in English, one syllable at a time, with the stressed syllable in capitals. The speaker button uses your browser's built-in Spanish voice. Gender and plural: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

How to pronounce trabajo

Trabajo is pronounced trah-BAH-hoh, in IPA /tɾaˈbaxo/. Trabajo has three syllables, trah-BAH-hoh, with the stress on the second. There is no written accent because the word follows the basic rule: words ending in a vowel, -n or -s are stressed on the second-to-last syllable.

• J is a rough h sound, stronger than the English h.

Listen: normal and slow speed, in your browser's Spanish voice. IPA: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Is trabajo masculine or feminine?

Trabajo is masculine, so it takes el (the) and un (a): el trabajo. The plural is los trabajos. That fits the usual pattern: most nouns ending in -o are masculine.

Example sentences

Voy al trabajo
I'm going to work

El trabajo es duro
The work is hard

Tengo un trabajo nuevo.
I have a new job.

"Work" in Spain and Latin America

Regional words and roots: Diccionario de la lengua española (RAE). Spanish varies by region, so treat these as the most common patterns, not strict rules.

How to remember trabajo

trabajo [trah-BAH-hoh] sounds like the English “traffic hoe”. Picture this:

Stuck in traffic you hoe a tiny garden on the dashboard — work finds you anywhere.

A sound-alike plus a vivid scene is the keyword method, a well-studied way to learn vocabulary. How it works.

Practice trabajo

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Word web: trabajo

Words that live next to trabajo in the Palabra word web, each with its own English sound-alike and scene. Learning them together makes each one easier to recall.