Italian for English speakers House · Lesson 3

What's your job?

Ask about jobs in Italian — Che lavoro fa tuo padre? (What does your father do?) — and answer È infermiere.

Conversation

  1. Lindo Lindo

    Che lavoro fa tuo padre?

    What does your dad do?

  2. Cassian Cassian

    Fa l' infermiere

    He is a nurse

    Tip: To describe a job someone does, say <fare> + <il/lo/la> + [job name]. This translates literally to "does job". <Fare> is used as <fa> here, due to how it conjugates - but we can ignore that for now

  3. Lindo Lindo

    E tua madre?

    What about your mum?

  4. Cassian Cassian

    Lei è una commessa in un negozio di fiori

    She is a flower shop assistant

    Tip: Another way to describe a job is to say "they are", such as "they are a flower shop assistant". Here, the structure is <essere> + <un/uno/una> + [job name]. <Essere> is used as <è> here, due to how it conjugates - but we can ignore that for now

Common questions

Quick answers about this lesson's grammar and vocabulary.

How do you ask 'what does he do?' in Italian?

Che lavoro fa? (what work does he do?) or Cosa fa nella vita? = 'what does he do for a living?'.

How do job names work in Italian?

È + profession (no article): È infermiere (he's a nurse), È medico (he's a doctor), È insegnante (she's a teacher).

Common Italian jobs?

Infermiere/a (nurse), medico (doctor), insegnante (teacher), avvocato (lawyer), ingegnere (engineer), cameriere/a (waiter).

Next lesson in House Describing someone →