{"id":23624,"date":"2025-04-10T07:00:53","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T05:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/vocabulary-work-and-jobs\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T10:02:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T08:02:20","slug":"vocabulary-work-and-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/vocabulary-work-and-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"Vocabulary: work and jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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In this article we'll look at vocabulary related to professions, trades, and work, as well as some verbs used to talk about and ask how a person makes a living. Let's go!<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Fundamental verbs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In Spanish, as in every language, there are many verbs used to refer to work activity. In this article we’ll look at the most commonly used ones, that is, the ones you’ll most likely use to talk about your own job and the ones you’ll most often hear when someone wants to know how you make a living. And since I think it’s better to start with the hard part, let’s look at the verb dedicarse<\/em>. This verb is reflexive and is always used with the preposition a. It’s used much more often to ask about someone else’s job than to talk about your own. Let’s look at its conjugation:<\/p>\n

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Yo me dedico a. (I… for a living)
\nT\u00fa te dedicas a. (You… for a living)
\n\u00c9l\/Ella\/Usted se dedica a. (He\/She\/You [formal]… for a living)
\nNosotros\/as nos dedicamos a. (We… for a living)
\nVosotros\/as os dedicais a. (You all [Spain]… for a living)
\nEllos\/Ellas\/Ustedes se dedican a. (They\/You all [formal]… for a living)<\/p>\n

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As I mentioned before, it’s very commonly used to ask how someone makes a living. So the most common way someone will ask you this is \u00bfA qu\u00e9 te dedicas?<\/em> (What do you do for a living?) Although it can be used to answer that question, it’s more usual not to use it that way. If you do use it to answer, the structure is dedicarse a + infinitive:<\/em> me dedico a ense\u00f1ar espa\u00f1ol<\/em> (I teach Spanish for a living).<\/p>\n

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Another way someone might ask what you do for a living is with the verb trabajar<\/em>, using the preposition de<\/em>. \u00bfDe qu\u00e9 trabajas?<\/em> (What do you work as?) You can use the verb trabajar<\/em> to answer this question too, using either the preposition de<\/em> or the conjunction como<\/em> + job. Trabajo de\/como profesor<\/em> (I work as a teacher). Trabajo de\/como cajero en un supermercado<\/em> (I work as a cashier in a supermarket). Watch out: the conjunction como<\/em> is not used to ask about someone’s job. Let’s look at the conjugation of the verb trabajar.<\/p>\n

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Yo trabajo. (I work)
\nT\u00fa trabajas. (You work)
\n\u00c9l\/Ella\/Usted trabaja. (He\/She\/You [formal] works)
\nNosotros\/as trabajamos. (We work)
\nVosotros\/as trabaj\u00e1is. (You all [Spain] work)
\nEllos\/Ellas\/Ustedes trabajan. (They\/You all [formal] work)<\/p>\n

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And the third verb we’ll look at here is the verb ser<\/em>. This one isn’t used to ask about someone’s profession: no one<\/strong> will ask you \u00bfqu\u00e9 eres?<\/em> (what are you?) But it’s very commonly used to express our occupation: ser + profession or trade<\/em>. Soy profesor de espa\u00f1ol<\/em> (I’m a Spanish teacher), soy cajero en un supermercado<\/em> (I’m a cashier in a supermarket).<\/p>\n

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To introduce the place where we work we use the preposition en<\/em>: trabajo en una academia de idiomas<\/em> (I work at a language academy), trabajo en un supermercado<\/em> (I work in a supermarket). And to introduce the company we work for, we use the preposition para<\/em>: trabajo para Siemens<\/em> (I work for Siemens). Here<\/strong> <\/a>you can read more about the differences between por and para, something that tends to be a headache for those learning Spanish.<\/p>\n

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Below you’ll find a list of work-related vocabulary. Of course it doesn’t cover 100% of the vocabulary, but it’s a fairly extensive list divided by area of activity.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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