Describing work experience in Spanish

The idea

Use trabajé for a completed period and trabajaba for a past routine; add a place and typical duties.

Examples

• Trabajé dos años en una tienda.I worked in a shop for two years.
• Antes trabajaba en una oficina pequeña.I used to work in a small office.
• Cada mañana atendía a los clientes.Every morning I served customers.
• Mi compañera organizaba las reuniones del equipo.My colleague used to organise the team meetings.
• Durante el verano ayudé en un hotel.During the summer I helped out at a hotel.
• En ese trabajo preparábamos los pedidos cada tarde.In that job we prepared orders every afternoon.

Watch out

Do not use trabajé to present every repeated duty as a routine; trabajaba sets that background.

Try it yourself

1. Say that you worked in a restaurant for one year. ___ un año en un restaurante. (Trabajé / Trabajaba)

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   Trabajé

   Trabajé presents the year in the restaurant as a completed period.

2. Say that you used to answer calls every day. Antes ___ llamadas cada día. (contestaba / contesté)

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   contestaba

   contestaba describes calls answered regularly in the past.

3. Say that the team prepared reports every week. El equipo ___ informes cada semana. (preparaba / preparó)

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   preparaba

   preparaba matches the team’s weekly activity.

Use it today

Complete the sentences about a past job and regular responsibilities.