Jobs
Many jobs are already familiar from everyday life: el médico (the doctor), el profesor (the teacher), el camarero (the waiter), el cocinero (the cook), el taxista (the taxi driver), el bombero (the firefighter), el peluquero (the hairdresser), el enfermero (the nurse), el abogado (the lawyer), el ingeniero (the engineer), el dentista (the dentist), el electricista (the electrician), el piloto (the pilot), el veterinario (the vet), el policía (the police officer) and el vendedor (the shop assistant).
At the office or company you also meet el jefe (the boss), el director (the director), el secretario (the secretary), el recepcionista (the receptionist), el cajero (the cashier) and el escritor (the writer). el ama de casa (the homemaker) and el farmacéutico (the pharmacist) belong here too.
MasculineMasculineA noun's gender that typically takes el or un in Spanish. and femininefeminineA noun's gender that typically takes la or una in Spanish. job forms
Many job words have a masculinemasculineA noun's gender that typically takes el or un in Spanish. and a femininefeminineA noun's gender that typically takes la or una in Spanish. form, usually with the -o/-a ending: el profesor → la profesora, el médico → la médica, el camarero → la camarera, el cocinero → la cocinera. In a sentence you simply use the form that matches the person: Mi hermana es profesora. (My sister is a teacher.)
ser + job
Use ser to say what job someone has: Soy médico. (I am a doctor.) Mi hermana es profesora. (My sister is a teacher.) Él es ingeniero. (He is an engineer.) For a simple job statement, Spanish normally leaves out un/una: not "soy un médico", just Soy médico.
Work and the workplace
el trabajo (work) and la profesión (profession) are key words. You work at la empresa (the company) or la oficina (the office). Estoy en paro. means: I am unemployed. Having a job is also expressed with dedicarse a (to work as). And after work come las vacaciones (the holidays).
trabajar en
Use trabajar en to say where someone works: Trabajo en una oficina. (I work in an office.) Trabaja en un hospital. (He/She works at a hospital.) Trabajo en una empresa. (I work at a company.)
Asking about someone's job
This is how you ask about a job: ¿A qué te dedicas? – Soy profesor. And this is how you ask about the workplace: ¿Dónde trabajas? – Trabajo en una oficina.
More words about work
trabajar (to work) and trabajador (hard-working) are closely related: Mi hermano es muy trabajador. (My brother is very hard-working.) Another word for worker is el trabajador.
Examples
- Soy médico.
- Mi hermana es profesora.
- Trabajo en una oficina.
- ¿A qué te dedicas?