How to Talk About Your Occupation - Lesson Focus

Learn the key pattern to talk about your occupation

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Let's take a closer look at the conversation.

Do you remember how Mark asks,

"Are you a student?"

È studente?

First is è, "[you] are" when using formal Italian. È. È.

Note: è is a shortened form of lei è, "you are." In Italian, lei, "you," when using formal Italian, can be omitted when it is understood from context.

È is from the verb essere, meaning "to be." Essere.

Next is studente, "student." Studente. Studente.

In Italian, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Studente is masculine singular.

All together, È studente?

Are you a student?

È studente?

Now, let's take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how Paolo says,

"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."

No, non sono studente. Sono investitore.

First is the expression, no, meaning, "no." No. No.

It answers Mark's yes-or-no question, "Are you a student?" È studente?

After this, Paolo specifies that he's not a student. Non sono studente. "I'm not a student." Non sono studente.

First is non, "not." Non. Non.

Next is sono. "[I] am." Sono. Sono.

Note: here sono is a shortened form of io sono, "I am." In Italian, io, I, is usually omitted, as it's understood from context.

Sono is from the verb essere, meaning "to be." essere.

Together, it's non sono, literally "Not I am," but it translates as "I'm not." Non sono.

Next is Studente. "Student." Studente.

All together, Non sono studente. "I'm not a student." Non sono studente.

Paolo then tells Mark his actual occupation. Sono investitore. "I'm an investor." Sono investitore.

First, sono "[I] am." Sono.

Next is investitore, "investor." Investitore. Investitore.

The word investitore is masculine singular.

Together, Sono investitore. "I'm an investor." Sono investitore.

All together, No, non sono studente. Sono investitore.

"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."

No, non sono studente. Sono investitore.

The pattern is

No, non sono {occupation}. Sono {actual occupation}.

"No, I'm not {occupation}. I'm {actual occupation}."

No, non sono {occupation}. Sono {actual occupation}.

Imagine you're Emma Esposito, a student. The word for a female student is studentessa.

Studentessa. Studentessa.

Paolo Parisi asks you if you're a teacher, insegnante.

Insegnante. Insegnante.

Say

"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student."

Ready?

No, non sono insegnante. Sono studentessa.

"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student."

No, non sono insegnante. Sono studentessa.

In Italian, some occupations have the same word for both genders.

For example, insegnante.

Insegnante,

insegnante.

However, much of the time, words will differ depending on gender.

In general, nouns that end in -o tend to be masculine, while nouns that end in -a tend to be feminine.