Breakdown of El millonario me habla como si yo trabajara para él.
yo
I
él
he
hablar
to speak / to talk
trabajar
to work
para
for
me
to me / me (direct object)
como
as / like (such as, similar to)
si
if
el millonario
the millionaire
Questions & Answers about El millonario me habla como si yo trabajara para él.
Why is trabajara in the past tense (imperfect subjunctive) if he is talking to me right now (habla)?
The phrase como si (as if) sets up a hypothetical situation. Even though the action is happening now, the idea that you work for him is imaginary or contrary to reality. In Spanish, you must always use the imperfect subjunctive after como si to show this disconnect from reality.
Could I use trabajase instead of trabajara?
Yes! The imperfect subjunctive has two sets of endings: -ra and -se. Both trabajara and trabajase are grammatically correct and mean the exact same thing. However, the -ra endings are much more common in everyday spoken Latin American Spanish, which is why you see trabajara here.
Why is it para él and not por él?
Do I need to include the word yo before trabajara?
It is not strictly required, but it is very helpful here for clarity. In the imperfect subjunctive, the first-person (yo) and third-person (él/ella/usted) forms are completely identical. Adding yo simply prevents any confusion and makes it instantly clear that you are talking about yourself.
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