Not sure how to talk about your profession or where you work en español? You’re in the right place.
In this episode of Speaking Spanish for Beginners podcast, you’ll learn the key vocabulary and simple structures to confidently say what you do and ask others too.
Perfect for breaking the ice with your amigos latinos.
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Asking About Occupation in Spanish
How do you ask about a person’s occupation? Let’s start by looking at some questions.
¿Cuál es tu ocupación?
¿A qué te dedicas?
¿Qué haces?
They all basically mean the same “What is your occupation?”.
If you use “¿qué haces?” (What do you do?), you probably have to add something else to indicate you refer to the occupation.
Replying to ¿A qué te dedicas?
Verb “ser” + Occupation
Example: – ¿Cuál es tu ocupación? – Soy doctor
Notice there is no article “un/una” in between (equivalent of “a” in English). So we don’t say: soy un doctor.
Verb “Trabajar”
This verb means “to work”. “Trabajar” is a regular verb. The conjugation is the following:
Yo trabajo
Tú trabajas
Él/ella/usted trabaja
Nosotros(as) trabajamos
Ustedes/ellos/ ellas trabajan
If you want to ask “where do you work?” You ask “¿dónde trabajas?”.
In this question, the pronoun “tú” is implicit by the conjugation of the verb “trabajar”.
Spanish speakers recognize the subject of a sentence from the conjugation of the verb. That’s why they don’t always mention the subject explicitly.
To reply to that question, you can say “yo trabajo + en + name of company/institution”
Example: Me llamo Marco y trabajo en Latin ELE.
Some Occupations
Writer = Escritor(a). Trabaja en su estudio.
Doctor = Doctor(a). Trabaja en el hospital.
Actor/Actress = Actor/actriz. Trabaja en el teatro.
Lawyer = Abogado(a). Trabaja en la corte.
Teacher = Profesor(a). Trabaja en la escuela, instituto, universidad, etc.
Dentist = Dentista. Trabaja en la clínica.
Dialogue Transcript
Before you read this section, make sure to listen to the episode above without looking at the transcription.
Then you can come back and see how much of the dialogue you understood.
| Spanish (Original) | English (Translation) |
|---|---|
| Marco: Jessica, ¿Cuál es tu ocupación? | Marco: Jessica, what’s your occupation? |
| Jessica: Yo soy doctora, ¿y tú? | Jessica: I’m a doctor. And you? |
| Marco: Soy profesor de español. | Marco: I’m a Spanish teacher. |
| Jessica: ¿Dónde trabajas? | Jessica: Where do you work? |
| Marco: Trabajo en un instituto cerca de mi casa, ¿y tú? | Marco: I work at an institute near my house. And you? |
| Jessica: Trabajo en un hospital. | Jessica: I work at a hospital. |
Time to Practice!
Match each profession to its Spanish name. Look at the images and choose the correct word. ¡Vamos!
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Marco Fierro — Spanish Beginners Cult Leader
¡Hola! I’m an enthusiastic Spanish teacher passionate about making my language accessible to YOU.
When I’m not teaching, I love traveling and rocking out on my electric guitar.
Let’s have fun learning ESPAÑOL together. ¡Vamos!
