When to use prepositions with trabajar

Question

So I see a lot of example sentences that use trabajar with a preposition e.g. "Estoy trabajando en una novela."

But I also see ones that don't. Things like "working the field" makes sense without a preposition between verb and object, but I also see example sentences like these:

Este curso ha trabajado mucho las matemáticas.

Tienes que trabajar más el estilo.

So is there some rule that governs when you need to use a preposition with trabajar and when you don't need to? My guess is that when you're using trabajar to mean to work on or at for improvement, in the sense of mejorar like the dictionary lists, this definition of trabajar includes the preposition in its usage. Am I close?

And going along with this, wordreference.com's dictionary lists this as a pronomial use of trabajar: to work for ‹premio/ascenso›

So would it be correct to say: "Se trabaja un ascenso"?

¡Gracias por su ayuda!

Answer 1

I don't think that there is a rule (like with some other verbs) that says that trabajar needs a preposition. So I would say it would depent on what you are saying.

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So is there a meaning difference between using a preposition or not using one with trabajar? I saw it used with and without, so wanted to know when a preposition should be used, or if it doesn't matter. - Jellybean1996, Jan 6, 2012

Answer 2

Trabajar itself i beleive can mean to work on or to work at.