--- title: "jalar" translation: "To work, to function. Also: to come along." type: "word" category: "slang" url: "https://consalsa.app/words/jalar" canonical: "https://consalsa.app/words/jalar" published: "2026-10-21" updated: "2026-10-21" author: "Andrey the Nomad" site: "ConSalsa.App" license: "https://consalsa.app/terms#ip" --- # jalar URL: https://consalsa.app/words/jalar Translation: To work, to function. Also: to come along. Pronunciation: /xaˈlaɾ/ Category: slang Region: Mexico Register: casual, everyday, completely safe Variants: halar, el jale, jalar parejo Literal meaning: Jalar is to pull - the DLE files it as coming from halar, itself from French haler. Everything else it does in Mexico is that verb pointed at something that is or is not moving. Published: 2026-10-21 Quick answer: - Jalar literally means to pull, and a door marked JALE wants pulling. - It is also the casual way to say something works: no jala el wifi, ya no jala el control. Funcionar is the neutral word and is said out loud too. - ¿Jalas? asks whether you are coming - and no te jales means do not overdo it, which is the same reflexive doing a different job. What it means: - The literal sense is to pull, and it is alive - jala la puerta, jálale a la cadena. Every other use is that picture applied to something else. - The functioning sense is what you will use most. No jala means it does not work, and it covers a router, a remote, a plan, an argument and a relationship without changing shape. - The reflexive does two things and they are worth keeping apart. Nos jalamos al centro is we are heading over. No te jales and ya te jalaste are do not overdo it and you went too far - about a price, a joke, a portion. - The invitation sense is the shortest. ¿Jalas? means are you in, are you coming - and the answer is jalo or a reason. Literal meaning: - Jalar is to pull. The word is written on half the doors in Mexico as JALE, opposite EMPUJE, and it is the first place most visitors meet it. - From pulling comes working. Something that jala is moving under its own steam, and something that no jala has stopped - which is a more physical way of thinking about a wifi router than English manages. - From pulling also comes coming along. Jalarse a un lugar is to head somewhere - nos jalamos al centro - and ¿jalas? is the clipped invitation version of it. - And from pulling too hard comes overdoing it. Te jalaste is you went too far, and se jaló con el precio is he pushed the price past what it should have been. How Mexicans use it: - About objects it is constant and slightly resigned. No jala el wifi, ya no jala el cargador, esta cosa no jala. The tone is closer to it has given up than to it is broken. - About plans it is the shortest possible ask. ¿Jalas? in a group chat organizes an evening in six characters, and jalo is a complete acceptance. - El jale means a job or a gig - voy al jale is going to work. It leans northern, but plenty of chilangos say it too, so treat it as a tendency rather than a tell. Chamba is the CDMX default. - Jalar parejo is pulling your weight. Aquí todos jalamos parejo is what a boss says about a team and what a housemate says about the dishes. - Jálale is the imperative and it turns up in odd places - jálale a la cadena is flush the toilet, and jálale para acá is head this way. For hurry up the words are córrele, muévele or apúrale. Common mistake: - Pushing a door marked JALE. This is the single most common first encounter with the word and it happens to everybody once. - Assuming it is too casual for work. No jala el proyector is a completely normal thing to say in a Mexican office. Funcionar is the neutral word and it is said out loud constantly too - on the phone to Telmex, to a technician, on a sign. Jala is just the more colloquial of the two. - Hearing every reflexive as an invitation. Nos jalamos al centro is come along; no te jales is calm down, you are overdoing it. Same verb, opposite social move. Examples: - No jala el wifi. — The wifi's not working. - ¿Jalas o no jalas? — Are you in or not? - Nos jalamos al centro después. — We're heading downtown afterwards. - Jálale a la puerta, está atorada. — Pull the door, it's stuck. - No te jales, ya con eso está bien. — Don't overdo it, that's plenty. Mini dialogue: A: Oye, ¿el proyector de la sala jala? B: A veces. Hay que moverle el cable. A: O sea que no jala. B: Jala, nada más hay que saberle. A: Ajá. Voy por el mío. FAQ: Q: What does jalar mean? A: To pull. From there it means to work or function - no jala el wifi - and to come along: ¿jalas? Q: What does no jala mean? A: It doesn't work. It covers a router, a remote, a plan or an argument, and the tone is closer to it has given up than to it is broken. Q: What does ¿jalas? mean? A: Are you in, are you coming. It is one of the shortest invitations in Mexican Spanish, and jalo is a complete yes. Q: What does no te jales mean? A: Don't overdo it. Ya te jalaste is you went too far, and se jaló con el precio is he pushed it past what it should have been - the same reflexive as nos jalamos, doing a different job. Q: What does jalar parejo mean? A: To pull your weight. Aquí todos jalamos parejo is what a boss says about a team and a housemate says about the dishes. Q: Why do Mexican doors say JALE? A: Because jalar is to pull. JALE is pull and EMPUJE is push, and pushing a door marked JALE happens to every visitor once. Q: What is el jale? A: A job or a gig. Voy al jale is going to work. It leans northern but plenty of chilangos say it, so it is a tendency rather than a tell - chamba is the CDMX default. Q: What does de un jalón mean? A: In one go. Se lo tomó de un jalón is he drank it in one. Un jalón on its own is a tug. Q: Is jalar too informal for work? A: No. No jala el proyector is completely normal in a Mexican office. Funcionar is the neutral word and is said out loud constantly as well - jala is simply the more colloquial of the two. Q: Where does jalar come from? A: From halar, which the DLE traces to French haler. Halar has a silent h - /aˈlaɾ/ - and jalar is what you get when a dialect that aspirates it writes down what it is saying. Related words: chamba, estar-en-chinga, talacha, hacer-el-paro, va-que-va