La seguridad en el trabajo es importante.

Safety at work is important.

Breakdown of La seguridad en el trabajo es importante.

• ser: to be
• el trabajo: the work
• importante: important
• en: at
• la seguridad: the safety

Questions & Answers about La seguridad en el trabajo es importante.

Why is there a definite article before seguridad in La seguridad en el trabajo es importante?

In Spanish, abstract nouns (ideas, qualities) generally take the definite article when speaking about them in a general sense. Here, la seguridad means “safety” as a broad concept. If you dropped la, the phrase would sound less natural: Spanish learners might say “Seguridad en el trabajo…” but native speakers prefer “La seguridad en el trabajo…” unless they’re listing bullet points or titles.

Why do we say en el trabajo instead of just en trabajo?

Spanish usually requires the definite article before singular, countable nouns when talking about them in general or in a specific context. Here, trabajo is countable (“the work” / “the workplace”), so we need el. Without it, “en trabajo” sounds incomplete or poetic rather than standard speech.

Could we use another word instead of trabajo, for example lugar de trabajo?

Yes. Lugar de trabajo (“workplace”) is a common synonym. You could say:

• La seguridad en el lugar de trabajo es importante.
  Both phrases convey the same idea, though lugar de trabajo is slightly more formal or explicit.

Why is the verb es used here? Could we say está importante?

We use ser (es) because we’re stating an essential characteristic or a general truth. Estar (está) is used for temporary states or locations, not permanent qualities. “Está importante” would be incorrect in this context—you’d only use estar with adjectives that describe feelings, conditions, or locations (e.g., está cansado, está en casa).

Why is importante not importanto or importanta? Shouldn’t it agree in gender?

Adjectives in Spanish that end in -e (like importante) are invariable in gender and only change for number. So:

• Singular: importante (both masculine and feminine)
• Plural: importantes

Since seguridad is feminine singular, importante stays the same.

What’s the difference between seguridad en el trabajo and seguridad laboral?

They’re essentially synonyms.

• Seguridad en el trabajo is a more literal phrase (“safety at work”).
• Seguridad laboral uses the adjective laboral (“labor” or “work-related”) and is slightly more concise or technical.
  Both are widely understood and correct in Latin America.

How would you say “workplace safety is very important” in Spanish?

You insert the adverb muy before the adjective:
La seguridad en el trabajo es muy importante.

Can adjectives ever come before the noun here, like importante seguridad?

Generally no. In Spanish, descriptive adjectives follow the noun. Putting importante before seguridad (importante seguridad) would sound poetic or emphatic but is not standard for a neutral statement.

If I wanted to talk about my safety at work, how would I say that?

Add a possessive before seguridad:
Mi seguridad en el trabajo es importante.
You can also say La seguridad en mi puesto de trabajo es importante to be more specific (“my workstation”).