By the end of this lesson you'll be able to name common jobs for men and women, say where you work, and ask someone what they do.
Jobs for men and women
Most French job titles have a masculine and a feminine form. A few patterns cover many of them. You already know étudiant / étudiante from the lesson on être, which just adds -e, and le médecin from the lesson on the doctor and pharmacy.
Often -eur becomes -euse.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| un serveur / une serveuse | uhn sehr-VUHR / ewn sehr-VUHZ | a waiter / a waitress |
| un vendeur / une vendeuse | uhn vahn-DUHR / ewn vahn-DUHZ | a shop assistant (man / woman) |
Often -teur becomes -trice.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| un acteur / une actrice | uh-nak-TUHR / ew-nak-TREESS | an actor / an actress |
| un directeur / une directrice | uhn dee-rek-TUHR / ewn dee-rek-TREESS | a manager, a director (man / woman) |
-ier becomes -ière, and -er becomes -ère. The grave accent appears in the feminine.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| un infirmier / une infirmière | uh-nan-feer-MYAY / ew-nan-feer-MYEHR | a nurse (man / woman) |
| un boulanger / une boulangère | uhn boo-lahn-ZHAY / ewn boo-lahn-ZHEHR | a baker (man / woman) |
| un cuisinier / une cuisinière | uhn kwee-zee-NYAY / ewn kwee-zee-NYEHR | a cook (man / woman) |
| un policier / une policière | uhn poh-lee-SYAY / ewn poh-lee-SYEHR | a police officer (man / woman) |
Some words stay the same, and only the article changes.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| un / une journaliste | zhoor-nah-LEEST | a journalist |
| un / une dentiste | dahn-TEEST | a dentist |
These patterns are a guide, so learn each job as a pair.
Words that are changing
The feminine forms of a few jobs are still settling, and you'll see more than one version.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| un professeur / une professeure | uhn proh-feh-SUHR / ewn proh-feh-SUHR | a teacher (man / woman)Une professeur is also seen. |
| un ingénieur / une ingénieure | uh-nan-zhay-NYUHR / ew-nan-zhay-NYUHR | an engineer (man / woman)Une ingénieur is also seen. |
| un écrivain / une écrivaine | uh-nay-kree-VAN / ew-nay-kree-VEN | a writer (man / woman)Une écrivain is also seen. |
Today, professeure, ingénieure and écrivaine are widely used, but you'll also meet the older une professeur, une ingénieur and une écrivain. Médecin usually stays the same for women: une médecin, and you'll also hear un médecin used of a woman. People's own preferences vary, so follow what you hear.
No article after être
When you say what job someone does with être, French doesn't use a word for "a".
Je suis infirmière.
I'm a nurse. (said by a woman)
Il est boulanger.
He's a baker.
Elle est journaliste.
She's a journalist.
The article comes back as soon as you add an adjective. That's covered in the next lesson.
Where you work
Use à with an article for most workplaces, as in the lesson on à and de with articles. You know le restaurant and l'école already, as well as le bureau from the lesson on plural nouns and l'hôpital from the lesson on places in town.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| le métier | luh may-TYAY | the job, the profession |
| l'usine | lew-ZEEN | the factoryFeminine: une usine. |
| gagner | gah-NYAY | to earn |
| l'argent | lar-ZHAHN | moneyMasculine: gagner de l'argent (to earn money). |
| chercher du travail | shehr-shay dew trah-VAH-y | to look for work |
Je travaille à l'usine.
I work at the factory.
Karim travaille au restaurant.
Karim works at the restaurant.
Elle travaille à l'école.
She works at the school.
Mon frère travaille à l'hôpital et il gagne de l'argent.
My brother works at the hospital, and he earns money.
Asking about someone's job
You can ask directly, using the question words from the lesson on question words.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Quel est ton métier ? | kel eh tohn may-TYAY | What's your job? (informal)With vous: Quel est votre métier ? |
| Vous travaillez où ? | voo trah-vah-yay OO | Where do you work?With tu: Tu travailles où ? |
Saying it all at once
A useful answer often has two parts: what you do, and where you do it. Start with je suis and a job, with no article, and then add je travaille and a place. For example: Je suis serveur. Je travaille au restaurant (I'm a waiter. I work at the restaurant). If you're looking for work, you can say so simply: Je cherche du travail (I'm looking for work).
En français
- Bonjour. Quel est votre métier ? (Hello. What's your job?)
- Je suis dentiste. Et vous ? (I'm a dentist. And you?)
- Je suis vendeuse. Je travaille au supermarché. (I'm a shop assistant. I work at the supermarket.)
- Et votre mari ? (And your husband?)
- Il cherche du travail. (He's looking for work.)
What's next
Next, the lesson on c'est and il est shows when to say il est médecin and when to say c'est un médecin. You'll use all of this to describe your work in the review of this unit.