What do you do for a living? In this lesson, you'll learn to talk about jobs and occupations. You'll expand your use of 'ser' for professions and practice asking questions with '¿qué?' (what) and '¿dónde?' (where). By the end, you'll be able to have a basic conversation about work and studies.
Learning tips
- In Spanish, you don't use an article before a profession after 'ser': 'Soy profesor' (I'm a teacher), NOT 'Soy un profesor.'
- Many professions change gender: profesor/profesora, doctor/doctora. Some stay the same: estudiante.
- Practice the pattern: 'Soy [profession]. Trabajo en [place].' (I'm a [profession]. I work at [place].)
Warm-up & Active Recall
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ¿de dónde? | from where? |
| soy de | I am from |
| el país | the country |
| la ciudad | the city |
| colombiano | Colombian (m) |
| colombiana | Colombian (f) |
| estadounidense | American |
| español | Spanish |
| aquí | here |
| allá | there |
Dialog
Valentina and Andrés discuss their jobs. Notice that in Spanish, you say 'Soy profesor' without the article 'un/una' — this is different from English where you'd say 'I'm a teacher.' Also notice how 'trabajar' (to work) and 'estudiar' (to study) are used: 'Trabajo en la oficina' (I work in the office), 'Estudio en la universidad' (I study at the university).
Vocabulary
Active words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| trabajar | /tɾa.ba.ˈxaɾ/ | to work | Regular -ar verb |
| estudiar | /es.tu.ˈðjaɾ/ | to study | Regular -ar verb |
| el profesor | /pɾo.fe.ˈsoɾ/ | the teacher, professor (masculine) | |
| la profesora | /pɾo.fe.ˈso.ɾa/ | the teacher, professor (feminine) | |
| el estudiante | /es.tu.ˈðjan.te/ | the student | Same form for masculine and feminine |
| el doctor | /dok.ˈtoɾ/ | the doctor (masculine) | |
| la doctora | /dok.ˈto.ɾa/ | the doctor (feminine) | |
| la oficina | /o.fi.ˈsi.na/ | the office | |
| ¿qué? | /ˈke/ | what? | Question word — always has an accent mark |
| ¿dónde? | /ˈdon.de/ | where? | Question word — always has an accent mark |
Passive words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| el ingeniero | /in.xe.ˈnje.ɾo/ | the engineer | |
| el abogado | /a.βo.ˈɣa.ðo/ | the lawyer | |
| el músico | /ˈmu.si.ko/ | the musician | |
| la empresa | /em.ˈpɾe.sa/ | the company, business | |
| la universidad | /u.ni.βeɾ.si.ˈðað/ | the university | |
| en casa | /en ˈka.sa/ | at home | Common expression for working/studying from home |
Useful chunks
| Word | Translation |
|---|---|
| ¿qué haces? | What do you do? |
| ¿dónde trabajas? | Where do you work? |
Grammar: Present tense of 'ser' for professions and question formation
| Pronoun | ser |
|---|---|
| yo | soy profesor / soy doctora |
| tú | eres estudiante |
| usted / él / ella | es ingeniero |
| Question word | Example |
|---|---|
| ¿Qué? | ¿Qué haces? |
| ¿Dónde? | ¿Dónde trabajas? |
| ¿Quién? | ¿Quién es? |
When stating your profession with ser, Spanish drops the article (un/una) that English requires:
- English: I'm a teacher.
- Spanish: Soy profesor. (NOT: Soy un profesor.)
Professions change gender like nationality adjectives:
- profesor → profesora
- doctor → doctora
- But: estudiante stays the same for both genders.
Question formation with interrogative words:
- ¿Qué? (What?) → ¿Qué haces? (What do you do?)
- ¿Dónde? (Where?) → ¿Dónde trabajas? (Where do you work?)
- ¿Quién? (Who?) → ¿Quién es? (Who is he/she?)
Spanish questions always start and end with question marks: ¿...? The opening inverted question mark (¿) is unique to Spanish!
Exercises
Fill in the Blanks
Complete each sentence with the missing word.
- Yo soy . Trabajo en el hospital.(a medical profession)
- ¿ trabajas? — En la oficina.(question word for 'where')
- Ella en la universidad.(third person of 'estudiar')
- Él es . Trabaja en la universidad.(a teaching profession)
- ¿ haces? — Soy estudiante.(question word for 'what')
Grammar Application
Conjugate the given verb for the subject pronoun.
- yo / ser / doctor → Yo doctor.(yo + ser = ?)
- tú / trabajar / en la oficina → Tú en la oficina.(tú + trabajar = ?)
- ella / estudiar → Ella .(ella + estudiar = ?)
- usted / ser / profesora → Usted profesora.(usted + ser = ? — same as third person)
- él / trabajar / en el hospital → Él en el hospital.(él + trabajar = ?)
Translation (English → Spanish)
Translate each sentence into Spanish. Remember: no article before professions!
- I'm a teacher.
- Where do you work?
- She is a doctor.
- I work in the office.
- What do you do? I'm a student.
Creative Construction
Write 2-3 sentences about yourself or an imaginary person, including their profession and where they work. Combine vocabulary from all previous lessons.
Takeaway
Use 'ser' without an article for professions: 'Soy profesor.' Use '¿Qué?' and '¿Dónde?' to ask questions about jobs and locations.