What Is Your Job Like?

Introduction

This post deals with talking about work, professions or occupations.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a work colleague. You are talking about work, professions or occupations. The other person wants to learn a little more about what you do and says: "what is your job like?".

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and ask you:

¿Cómo es tu trabajo?

Alternatively, he/ she could choose to be a little bit more formal and say:

¿Cómo es su trabajo?

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OUR TIP

Answering that question should be quite straightforward. You should not need to consider more formal or less formal replies.

Perhaps you want to talk about:

• Your job/ occupation*.
• Where you work.
  • Sector
  • Employer/ self-employed
• Workplace
  • Workplace location
• Full-time/ part-time work
• A description of your job.

Here are some examples what you could say:

• Soy médico* (I am a doctor -if you are a male doctor).
• Soy médica* (I am a doctor -if you are a female doctor).
• Soy abogado* (I am a lawyer -if you are a male lawyer);
• Soy abogada* (I am a lawyer -if you are a female lawyer);
• Soy enfermero* (I am a nurse -if you are a male nurse);
• Soy enfermera* (I am a nurse -if you are a female nurse);
• Soy periodista (I am a journalist -either male or female journalist).
• Soy dentista (I am a dentist -either male or female dentist).
• Soy taxista (I am a taxi driver -either male or female taxi driver).
• Trabajo en la construcción (I work in the building trade).
• Trabajo en la seguridad social (I work in the National Health Service).
• Trabajo en un hospital (I work in a hospital).
• Trabajo en Madrid (I work in Madrid).
• Trabajo a tiempo parcial (I work part-time).
• Mi trabajo es gratificante (my work is rewarding).
• Mi trabajo es interesante (my work is interesting).
• Mi trabajo conlleva mucha responsabilidad (my work entails a lot of responsibility).
• Mi trabajo es agotador (my work is exhausting/ very tiring).
• Mi trabajo es un poco aburrido (my work is a little bit boring)

Notes

Some of these answers require a different wording if you are a male or a female (please see the examples* above).

See further practical examples of describing places/ people/ etc.

Now you should practise answering the question:

¿Cómo es tu trabajo?

*NB See Grammar below

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*Grammar-Professions/ Occupations

Person	Number	Occupation (Examples)
male	one	abogado
male	more than one	abogados
female	one	abogada
female	more than one	abogadas

Profession/ Occupation Agreement

See notes below on Profession/ Occupation agreement

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Profession/ Occupation Agreement

In Spanish professions/ occupations words have to agree with the gender and number of the person they refer to.

Professions/ Occupations -Gender

Most Spanish professions/ occupations words have similar but separate words for each of the two genders (for example, abogado/ abogada). However, some have one single form for both male and female (for example, periodista).

Thus when you come to give a person's profession/ occupation, you need to check whether the required word has:

• One single form for both male and female persons (for example , periodista)
• Two separate forms (for example, abogado/ abogada).- If the word has two separate forms, then you need to choose the form which matches the gender (male/ female) of the person.

Professions/ Occupations -Number

Spanish professions/ occupations words have also singular and plural* forms. When referring to a single person, the singular form of professions/ occupations words must be used. When referring to more than one person, the plural form of professions/ occupations words must be used.

*NB View posts with details about the plural of Spanish words here.

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