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SPANISH VERB

funcionar

to work (a machine)

  • #255 most used
  • Regular -ar verb
  • Gerund: funcionando
  • Past participle: funcionado

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. yo I work
  2. tú you work
  3. usted, él, ella he/she works
  4. nosotros we work
  5. vosotros Spain you all work
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they work

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

  1. yo I worked
  2. tú you worked
  3. usted, él, ella he/she worked
  4. nosotros we worked
  5. vosotros Spain you all worked
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they worked

Imperfect

Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. yo I used to work
  2. tú you used to work
  3. usted, él, ella he/she used to work
  4. nosotros we used to work
  5. vosotros Spain you all used to work
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to work

Future

Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common

  1. yo I will work
  2. tú you will work
  3. usted, él, ella he/she will work
  4. nosotros we will work
  5. vosotros Spain you all will work
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they will work

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

  1. yo I would work
  2. tú you would work
  3. usted, él, ella he/she would work
  4. nosotros we would work
  5. vosotros Spain you all would work
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they would work

Present subjunctive

Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”

  1. yo (that) I work
  2. tú (that) you work
  3. usted, él, ella (that) he/she work
  4. nosotros (that) we work
  5. vosotros Spain (that) you all work
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they work

Past subjunctive

Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”

  1. yo (if) I worked
  2. tú (if) you worked
  3. usted, él, ella (if) he/she worked
  4. nosotros (if) we worked
  5. vosotros Spain (if) you all worked
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they worked

Imperative

Imperativo · requests and orders; a negative one uses the subjunctive (no hables)

  1. tú work!
  2. usted work! (formal)
  3. nosotros work! (let’s)
  4. vosotros Spain work! (all of you)
  5. ustedes work! (all of you)

How to use funcionar

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    El elevador no funciona desde el lunes.

    The elevator hasn't worked since Monday.

  2. Past

    ¿Funcionó el cargador que te presté?

    Did the charger I lent you work?

  3. Imperfect

    La lavadora funcionaba bien hasta la semana pasada.

    The washing machine worked fine until last week.

  4. Future

    Con esta pila, el control funcionará otra vez.

    With this battery, the remote will work again.

  5. Conditional

    Sin internet, la aplicación no funcionaría.

    Without internet, the app wouldn't work.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Ojalá que la impresora funcione hoy.

    I hope the printer works today.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Si el aire funcionara, dormiríamos mejor.

    If the air conditioning worked, we'd sleep better.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Funciona, por favor, que tengo prisa!

    Work, please, I'm in a hurry!

Where you hear funcionar

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

Spanish · Beginner Level 2

  • El cajero no funciona. The cash machine doesn't work.
  • Ayer mi tarjeta no funcionó. Yesterday my card didn't work.
  • Mañana va a funcionar. Tomorrow it's going to work.

Spanish · Intermediate Level 1

  • La bomba funciona bien. The pump works well.
  • La bomba no funcionaba el martes. The pump wasn't working on Tuesday.
  • La bomba va a funcionar cuando cambie la pieza. The pump is going to work when I replace the part.
4
The Machine Ate My Card

Beginner Level 2 · No funciona.

Needs a subscription 18
No Water

Intermediate Level 1 · no funcionaba

Needs a subscription 27
Not Even If They Paid Me

Advanced Level 2 · ¿Funciona?

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Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -ar verb.