trabajarvstrabajéWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“trabajar” and “trabajé” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#518
“trabajar” frequency rank
#12,497
“trabajé” frequency rank
13015
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature trabajar trabajé
Definition Realizar una actividad sea física o mental. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de trabajar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set trabajar and trabajé apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
trabajar
7 ch
trabajé

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. trabajar ([t̪ɾaβ̞aˈxaɾ]) and trabajé ([t̪ɾaβ̞aˈxe]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

trabajar is recorded at frequency rank #518, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪ɾaβ̞aˈxaɾ]. trabajé is at rank #12,497, tagged as averb, pronounced [t̪ɾaβ̞aˈxe].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 13015, this pair ranks #289,442 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of trabajar vs trabajé

Shared letters: abjrt. Private to "trabajar": -. Private to "trabajé": é.

"trabajar" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC  ·  "trabajé" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • trabajarrtabajar · tarbajar · traabjar · trabaajr · trabajarr · trabajjar · trabajra · trabbajar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "trabajar" and "trabajé" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([t̪ɾaβ̞aˈxaɾ] versus [t̪ɾaβ̞aˈxe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "trabajar" or "trabajé"?
"trabajar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #518 in our Spanish list, against #12,497 for "trabajé". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list