20 Vocabulario: las profesiones
For most occupations, change the “o” ending to “a”, or add “a” to “or” endings to refer to a female. Use the corresponding male / female article (el-la / un-una) as needed. Some “o” endings for the professions don’t change to refer to a female. Refer to the examples after the chart.
Las profesiones (occupations)
| las profesiones | occupations | las profesiones | occupations |
|---|---|---|---|
| abogado/a | lawyer | juez/a | judge |
| el actor / la actriz | actor | mecánico/a | mechanic |
| el / la artista | artist | médico/a | doctor |
| arquitecto/a | architect | mesero/a | waiter / waitress |
| autor/a | author | el / la periodista | journalist |
| bombero/a | fireman | el / la piloto | pilot |
| cantinero/a | bartender | pintor/a | painter |
| carpintero/a | carpenter | plomero/a | plumber |
| científico/a | scientist | el / (la mujer) policía | policeman |
| cirujano/a | surgeon | el / (la mujer) politico(a) | politician |
| contador/a | accountant | profesor/a | professor |
| cocinero/a | cook | el / la recepcionista | receptionist |
| el / la dentista | dentist | el / la salvavidas | lifeguard |
| diseñador/a | designer | secretario/a | secretary |
| doctor/a | doctor | el / la soldado | soldier |
| enfermero/a | nurse | trabajador/a de fábrica | factory worker |
| farmacéutico/a | pharmacist | traductor/a | translator |
| fotógrafo/a | photographer | vendedor/a | salesperson |
| ingeniero/a | engineer | veterinario/a | veterinarian |
| jardinero/a | landscaper |
OJO: a few observations about gender with professions:
- Nouns ending with -ista do not change for gender: el dentista / la dentista
- The use of the definite article “la” with “policía” and “política” changes the meaning of these words from occupations to something else:
- “la policía” means “the police department”, or the idea of police in general. To refer to a female office, “la mujer policía” is used.
- Similarly, “la política” means “politics”. To refer to a female politician “la mujer política” is used.
Using SER with professions
To say what one does for a living, use the verb “ser” (to be); however, the indefinite article “a / an” (un / una) is omitted in Spanish.
| Ella es doctora. | She’s a doctor. |
| Él es policía. | He’s a policeman. |
| Yo quiero ser abogado. | I want to be a lawyer. |
| Ana estudia para ser veterinaria. | Ana is studying to be a veterinarian. |
However, if you want to qualify the profession, then the indefinite article is used:
| Ella es una profesora interesante. | She’s an interesting professor. |
| Él es un juez justo. | He’s a fair judge. |
| Yo quiero ser una actriz famosa. | I want to be a famous actor (actress). |
¿Cómo se dice…?:
Now you try out some sentences: use the professions vocabulary from the charts above to translate the sentences below.
Some vocabulary you might need: trabajador = hardworking; desear = desire / want; or = o
- Javier is a very hardworking carpenter.
- My niece is an accountant.
- The nurses are very nice.
- My daughters are studying to be designers.
- She’s an intelligent author.
- The boys want to be police officers or firefighters.
- He’s a good artist.
Traducciones:
- Javier es un carpintero muy trabajador.
- Mi sobrina es contadora.
- Las enfermeras son muy simpáticas.
- Mis hijas estudian para ser diseñadoras.
- Ella es una autora inteligente.
- Los niños desean ser policías o bomberos.
- Él es un buen artista.
Grammar Details:
#1 from above: Javier es un carpintero muy trabajador.
The article “un” is used because we’ve qualified “carpintero” with “trabajador”; descriptive adjectives like “trabajador” follow the noun they describe.
#2 from above: Las enfermeras son muy simpáticas.
If the group of nurses consisted of male and females, then the sentence would change to: “Los enfermeros son muy simpáticos”.
#7 from above: Él es un buen artista.
The adjective “bueno” can also follow the noun: “Él es un artista bueno”.