Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "trabajar" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce trabajar in Spanish?

trabajar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /tɾa.βaˈxaɾ/. It means “to work.” trah-bah-HAR, three beats — the j is a throaty h, nothing like an English j.

trah-bah-HAR, three beats — the j is a throaty h, nothing like an English j.

trabajar /tɾa.βaˈxaɾ/

Three syllables, tra-ba-JAR, with the beat on the last because the word ends in r. Once conjugated, every present-tense form except "we" pulls the stress back onto the second syllable: tra-BA-jo, tra-BA-jas, tra-BA-ja. This makes the infinitive the odd one out rhythmically, which is worth hearing as a pattern rather than memorizing form by form.

Listen: trabajar

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

tra A dry dental t plus a single tap of the r, run together tightly, then a wide "ah". English turns a t before r into a "ch" sound; Spanish keeps the two crisp and separate.

ba A soft b between vowels — the lips approach without meeting and the voice hums through — plus another open "ah".

ja The j is a raspy sound made at the back of the mouth, like the ch in Scottish "loch". Then a third "ah", and this one is stressed.

r A single tap of the tongue tip to close. Two taps in the word, and neither is trilled.

Hear it in a sentence

¿Dónde trabajas?

Where do you work?

Listen: ¿Dónde trabajas?

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

"¿Dónde trabajas?" gives you the conjugated form with its stress on BA, and "dónde" carries an accent marking it as a question word. All three a sounds in "trabajas" are the same wide-open vowel, which is exactly what English wants to avoid — a native English speaker would give each one a different colour.

Where English speakers slip

The j is the sound that gives learners away: saying "tra-ba-JAR" with the j of "jam" produces a consonant Spanish does not have. Move it to the back of the throat and let it scrape. Then there are the three a's, all of which English wants to reduce — keep them equally open, varying only in loudness. The b between vowels should also be soft rather than popped.