A1-6 · Learn job nouns with their gender
Jobs
Name common jobs, recognise feminine job forms and talk about workplaces.
About 5 minutes to read · 12 quiz questions
01
Names of jobs
Learn a job noun with its article. Many feminine job names add -in. When stating your profession after sein, German usually leaves out the article.
Ich bin Lehrer.
I am a teacher.
Sie ist Lehrerin.
She is a teacher.
Er ist Koch.
He is a cook.
Sie ist Köchin.
She is a cook.
The noun pairs are der Lehrer / die Lehrerin and der Koch / die Köchin. Köchin also changes o to ö. The article tells you the noun’s grammatical gender.
02
More job pairs
Some feminine job names change the vowel as well as adding -in. Learn the complete pair, not only the ending.
Er ist Arzt.
He is a doctor.
Sie ist Ärztin.
She is a doctor.
Er ist Verkäufer.
He is a shop assistant.
Sie ist Verkäuferin.
She is a shop assistant.
Use der Arzt / die Ärztin and der Verkäufer / die Verkäuferin. The examples use er and sie to make the noun forms clear; people can describe their work in other ways too.
03
Where people work
Arbeiten means to work. Its forms include ich arbeite and er/sie arbeitet. Learn the workplace phrases as whole expressions for now.
Ich arbeite in Berlin.
I work in Berlin.
Die Lehrerin arbeitet in einer Schule.
The teacher works in a school.
Der Arzt arbeitet in einem Krankenhaus.
The doctor works in a hospital.
Die Verkäuferin arbeitet in einem Geschäft.
The shop assistant works in a shop.
Schule means school, Krankenhaus means hospital and Geschäft means shop or business. Here einer Schule and einem Krankenhaus are useful fixed phrases; their case endings come later.
Ready to try it?
Check what you remember with 12 short questions.
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