📖LearnModule 7 · Lesson 11 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, completedUnit 3 · El trabajo y el dinero
Los oficios
Module 7 of the free Spanish course (CEFR B1, completed), lesson 11 of 30: Saying what someone does is a B1 staple, and Spanish has one habit English does not: after ser. On this page: 10 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
el oficio
the trade or profession
ehl oh-FEE-syoh
el abogado
the lawyer
ehl ah-boh-GAH-doh
la abogada
the lawyer (f)
lah ah-boh-GAH-dah
el enfermero
the nurse (m)
ehl ehn-fehr-MEH-roh
el contador
the accountant
ehl kohn-tah-DOHR
ella es abogada
she is a lawyer
EH-yah ehs ah-boh-GAH-dah
el jefe
the boss
ehl HEH-feh
la empresa
the company
lah ehm-PREH-sah
el mesero
the waiter
ehl meh-SEH-roh
el cajero
the cashier
ehl kah-HEH-roh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
Saying what someone does is a B1 staple, and Spanish has one habit English does not: after ser, the job takes NO article. Ella es abogada — she is a lawyer. Él es contador — he is an accountant. The feminine forms are real and standard: la abogada, la enfermera, la jefa.
Y también · And also
Two jobs to know by their Latin American names: el mesero (the waiter — el camarero in Spain) and el cajero (the cashier). And the boss is el jefe or la jefa; la empresa is the company, whatever its size.
Ojo · Watch out
After ser a job takes NO article: ella es abogada, never ella es una abogada. The feminine forms are real: la abogada, la jefa, la contadora. And el mesero is Latin American; Spain says el camarero.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 10 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with el oficio.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 11 in Module 7 are the written half of this page.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.