Buenas, ¿Cómo estáis? Espero que todos estéis bien, que estéis disfrutando de vuestros estudios de español y vayáis progresando muy bien.

I hope you are all ok and that you are enjoying your Spanish studies and progressing well.

Today, we are going to have a class for beginner level students in which we will see how to ask and state your profession. I will also be highlighting and discussing the use of Spanish masculine and feminine and some rules to help you remember which endings to use.

¿Cuál es tu profesión?: What is your profession? (informal)
¿Cuál es su profesión? What is your profession? (formal)
Soy…: I am…

Some job titles end with the letter “o” if a man does them. You swap it for an “a” if a woman does them:

panadero/a: baker
carnicero/a: butcher
carpintero/a: carpenter
cajero/a: cashier
cocinero/a: cook
camarero/a: waiter/waitress
médico/a: doctor
ingeniero/a: engineer
abogado/a: lawyer
mecánico/a: mechanic
enfermero/a: nurse
fontanero/a: plumber
secretario/a: secretary

Some job titles end with a consonant when they are done by a man. You add an “a” if they are done by a woman:

director/+a: manager
profesor/+a: teacher
escritor/+a: writer

If a job title finishes with the letter “e”, it is the same for a man and for a woman:

estudiante: student
estudiante de español: Spanish student

Job titles finishing in “ista” are both masculine and feminine. You cannot change them to “isto” for a man:

electricista: electrician
recepcionista: receptionist

There are some other job titles that don´t change gender, but they don´t follow a specific rule and are exceptions:

policía: police officer

¿Dónde trabajas? Where do you work? (familiar)
¿Dónde trabaja? Where do you work? (formal)
Trabajo en…: I work in…
Un /una: a/an

Most locations finishing in “o” are masculine and most finishing in “a” are feminine”. Locations finishing in any other letter could be either masculine or feminine so unfortunately you need to memorise each one as there are no specific rules:

Oficina: office
Colegio: school
Escuela: school
Hospital: hospital
Taller: garage
Banco: bank
Restaurante: restaurant

Remembering if a word is masculine or feminine is one of the keys to speaking Spanish well and really it is not as difficult as it looks. When you have heard a word a few times you remember it and you are able to construct your sentence automatically.

I hope you all have a great week and look forward to seeing you next time in class!