You know how to greet people, introduce yourself, and say where you're from. Now it's time for one of the most common conversation topics: what do you do for work? In this lesson you'll learn professions in French, the infinitives 'travailler' (to work) and 'étudier' (to study), and how to ask questions using 'où' (where) and 'que' (what). By the end, you'll be able to say 'I'm a teacher, I work at the university' — in French!
Learning tips
- French profession nouns have gender forms: 'le professeur' (male teacher) vs 'la professeure' (female teacher). Always learn a noun with its article so you remember the gender automatically.
- The infinitive 'travailler' ends in -er, which is the most common verb group in French. Once you learn one -er verb well, you have the template for hundreds more.
- In French, you don't use an article before a profession when using être: 'je suis professeur', NOT 'je suis un professeur'. This is different from English ('I am a teacher') and trips up many learners.
- The question 'qu'est-ce que tu fais ?' is literally 'what is it that you do?' — a verbose structure that sounds natural to French speakers. It's the standard informal way to ask 'what do you do?'.
- Verbs conjugated in the present tense in French cover both simple present ('I work') and present continuous ('I am working') in English. 'Je travaille' can mean both.
Warm-up & Active Recall
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| d'où | from where |
| je suis | I am |
| tu es | you are (informal) |
| il est | he is |
| elle est | she is |
| français | French (masculine) |
| française | French (feminine) |
| le pays | the country |
| la ville | the city |
| ici | here |
Dialog
Lucas and Camille discover they're both professors. Notice 'J'étudie la littérature au bureau' — Camille studies literature at the office, a slightly unusual detail that shows you don't have to be a student to study something. 'Que fait l'étudiante là-bas ?' is a slightly more formal phrasing — using 'que' at the start of the sentence instead of 'qu'est-ce que'. Both mean 'what is she doing?' but the word order differs. The word 'lui' in 'Et lui, il est médecin ?' is a stressed pronoun meaning 'him' — used for emphasis. 'Non' is introduced here — a clean, flat 'no'.
Vocabulary
Active words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| travailler | /tʁa.va.je/ | to work | A regular -er verb. Je travaille, tu travailles, il/elle travaille — the present tense follows the standard -er pattern. |
| étudier | /e.ty.dje/ | to study | Another regular -er verb. J'étudie, tu étudies — note the apostrophe in 'j'étudie' because 'étudier' starts with a vowel. |
| le professeur | /lə pʁɔ.fɛ.sœʁ/ | teacher / professor (male) | Masculine form. No article before profession with être: 'je suis professeur', not 'je suis un professeur'. |
| la professeure | /la pʁɔ.fɛ.sœʁ/ | teacher / professor (female) | Feminine form. Same pronunciation as the masculine, just spelled with an 'e' at the end. |
| l' l'étudiant | /le.ty.djɑ̃/ | student (male) | Masculine form. Starts with l' (elision) before vowel: l'étudiant. The nasal 'an' ending: /ɑ̃/. |
| l' l'étudiante | /le.ty.djɑ̃t/ | student (female) | Feminine form. The 't' at the end becomes audible: /le.ty.djɑ̃t/. Compare to the masculine where it's silent. |
| le médecin | /lə med.sɛ̃/ | doctor (male or female) | This noun has the same form for both genders — 'le médecin' (male) and 'la médecin' or 'le médecin' (female). No feminine equivalent is commonly used. |
| le bureau | /lə by.ʁo/ | the office / the desk | Can mean either office or desk depending on context. 'Je travaille au bureau' = I work at the office. |
| où | /u/ | where | Used in questions about location: 'où tu travailles ?' = where do you work? Note the grave accent distinguishing it from 'ou' (or). |
| que | /kə/ | what (in questions) | Used in 'qu'est-ce que tu fais ?' — the 'que' contracts to 'qu'' before a vowel. A key question word. |
Passive words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| l' l'ingénieur | /lɛ̃.ʒe.njœʁ/ | ||
| l' l'avocat | /la.vɔ.ka/ | ||
| le musicien | /lə my.zi.sjɛ̃/ | ||
| l' l'entreprise | /lɑ̃.tʁə.pʁiz/ | ||
| l' l'université | /ly.ni.vɛʁ.si.te/ | ||
| à la maison | /a la mɛ.zɔ̃/ |
Useful chunks
| Word | Translation |
|---|---|
| qu'est-ce que tu fais ? | what do you do? (informal) |
| je suis professeur | I am a teacher |
Grammar: être for professions and question formation
| Profession | Masculin | Féminin |
|---|---|---|
| teacher | professeur | professeure |
| student | étudiant | étudiante |
| doctor | médecin | médecin |
| engineer | ingénieur | ingénieure |
This lesson focuses on two things: using 'être' with professions, and question formation with 'où' and 'que'. First, professions: in French, after 'être' you drop the article before a profession noun. Compare English ('I am a doctor') with French ('Je suis médecin' — no 'un'). This applies with all subject pronouns: il est professeur, elle est étudiante. However, if you add an adjective, the article returns: 'c'est un bon médecin' (he's a good doctor). The gender table for professions:
| Profession | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| teacher | professeur | professeure |
| student | étudiant | étudiante |
| doctor | médecin | médecin |
| engineer | ingénieur | ingénieure |
For questions, 'où tu travailles ?' (where do you work?) uses informal subject-verb order — no inversion needed in casual speech. 'Qu'est-ce que tu fais ?' (what do you do?) is the standard informal question structure. Formal inversion ('Où travaillez-vous ?') exists but is taught later.
Exercises
Fill in the Blanks
Complete each sentence with the correct French word or phrase.
- Je suis . Je travaille à l'hôpital.(profession for someone who works at a hospital)
- tu travailles ?(question word asking about location — one word)
- Elle est . Elle étudie à l'université.(female student — feminine profession noun)
- Il travaille au .(the place where you have a desk and do work — one word)
- Qu'est-ce tu fais ?(the question word in 'qu'est-ce ___ tu fais ?')
Grammar Application
Apply the gender agreement rules for professions and conjugate the verbs as directed.
- Complète : Je suis (professeur, femme qui parle).(professeur → feminine form for a woman speaking)
- Complète : Il est (étudiant).(étudiant — masculine form, no change needed)
- Forme la question : tu travailles ?(question word for location — where?)
- Complète : Elle (étudier) la littérature.(conjugate étudier for elle — 3rd person singular)
- Complète : Nous (travailler) au bureau.(conjugate travailler for nous — 1st person plural)
Translate into French
Translate each English sentence into French. Remember: no article before profession names after être.
- I am a teacher.
- Where do you work?
- She is a student.
- He studies at the university.
- What do you do?
Build Your Own Sentence
Write 2–3 French sentences describing what you do and where you work or study. Use 'je suis + profession', 'je travaille' or 'j'étudie', and a location.
Takeaway
In French, you never say 'je suis un professeur' — drop the article after être with professions. Just say 'je suis professeur', and match the profession noun to the speaker's gender.