Day 14: Día 14: ¿Cuál es su ocupación?
¡Hola a todos!
Continuing our Spanish vocabulary drills, we will add some more important questions and phrases to our Spanish vocabulary lists. When getting to know someone new, asking about their profession or studies is a common conversation topic. In Spanish, there are several ways to ask about someone’s work or ask what they do for a living.
Today’s list is a bit long – but don’t you worry! Now that you’re in a habit of building vocabulary and learning some new phrases every day, today just means you are learning to push your boundaries a little. Don’t let the list and new words scare you, calmly read them a few times and try to speak them aloud. Once you get familiar with the look and sound of the words, you will find it easier to remember them.
Take a look at them in the table below:
| ¿Dónde trabaja? dawn-day traabaa-khaas (‘t’ and ‘d’ have a soft sound) | Where do you work? (formal) |
| ¿Dónde trabajas?dawn-day traabaa-khaas (‘t’ and ‘d’ have a soft sound) | Where do you work? (informal) |
| ¿A qué se dedica? aa kay say dey-di-kaas (‘d’ has a soft sound) | What do you do? (formal) |
| ¿A qué te dedicas? aa kay tay dey-di-kaas (‘t’ and ‘d’ have a soft sound) | What do you do? (informal) |
| ¿Cuál es su ocupación? kuaal eys su okyu-paa-see-on (‘t’ has a soft sound) | What is your occupation? (formal) |
| ¿Cuál es tu ocupación?kuaal eys tu okyu-paa-see-on (‘t’ has a soft sound) | What is your occupation? (informal) |
¿Trabajas o Estudias? | Do you work / study? |
Trabajo a tiempo parcial / completo. | I work part-time / full-time. |
Trabajo desde casa. | I work from home. |
Estoy jubilado. | I’m retired. |
| ¿Cuál es tu ocupación?kuaal eys tu okyu-paa-see-on (‘t’ has a soft sound) | What is your occupation? (informal) |
Trabajo de…traabaa-kho day… | I work as a / an… |
Yo soy… | I’m a / an… |
Let’s take a short quiz to see how many you can remember:
- How do you say “Where do you work?” formally in Spanish?
a) ¿Dónde trabaja?
b) ¿Qué trabajas?
c) ¿Trabajas dónde - What is the informal Spanish phrase for “What do you do?”
a) ¿Cuál es tu ocupación?
b) ¿A qué te dedicas?
c) ¿Trabajas o estudias? - If someone says “Trabajo desde casa” in Spanish, what does it mean?
a) I work from home.
b) I work hard.
c) I work part-time. - How would you say “I’m retired” in Spanish?
a) Soy jubilado.
b) Estoy jubilado.
c) Estoy retirado. - To say “I work as a teacher” in Spanish, you would say:
a) Trabajo de profesor.
b) Soy profesor.
c) Both a and b. - What is the Spanish question to ask “Do you work or study?”
a) ¿Trabajas?
b) ¿Trabajas o estudias?
c) ¿Qué haces? - How would you respond in Spanish if you work full-time?
a) Trabajo completo.
b) Trabajo a tiempo completo.
c) Trabajo todo el tiempo.
It’s time to check your answers!
- a
- b
- a
- b
- c – the answer can be both because there were 2 ways that we learnt to respond. Either of them can be used to talk about your profession.
- b
- b
Learning these simple phrases allows you to discuss professions and employment when conversing in Spanish. Whether meeting new people or catching up with acquaintances, asking about jobs is a natural way to get to know someone better. So, why don’t you try to find out what your profession is called in Spanish and answer the question, “¿Cuál es tu ocupación?”
