Learning how to talk about jobs in French is a crucial skill that will help you in both personal and professional contexts. Whether you’re discussing your career, asking about someone else’s profession in French, or describing different occupations, having a solid grasp of this vocabulary is essential.
In this article, we’ll explore common jobs in French, phrases to describe your profession, and how to ask others about their work.
Common jobs in French
Knowing the names of common professions in French will enable you to discuss various occupations. The starting point for describing your job is using the term “Je suis, which means “I am” in French.
With that in mind, here are some essential job terms to add to your vocabulary:
Pofesseur
- Je suis professeur. I am a teacher.
Étudiant(e)
- Je suis étudiant(e). I am a student.
The term changes depending on gender: étudiant for males and étudiante for females.
Ingénieur
- Je suis ingénieur. I am an engineer.
Comptable
- Je suis comptable. I am an accountant.
Avocat
- Je suis avocat(e). I am a lawyer.
The term is avocat for males and avocate for females.
Plombier
- Je suis plombier. I am a plumber, male.
- Je suis plombière. I am a plumber, female.
Alors moi …
This phrase is used to give personal information, often following a question about your profession: Alors moi, je suis professeur. Well, I am a teacher.
Je ne travaille pas
This phrase means I do not work and is used if you are currently unemployed or not working: Je ne travaille pas en ce moment. I am not working at the moment.
Asking about professions in French
To engage in conversations about jobs in French, it’s important to know how to ask about someone else’s profession. Here are key questions:
Quel est ton métier ?
This is the informal way to ask someone what their job is.
Quel est votre métier ?
This is the formal version, used in professional or polite settings.
Qu’est-ce que tu fais dans la vie ?
This informal question is commonly used to ask about someone’s profession, meaning What do you do for a living?
Qu’est-ce que vous faites dans la vie ?
The formal version of this question.
Would you like to learn the pronunciation of these phrases? In episode 7 of Season 1 of the Coffee Break French podcast, you can get more insight into them and also learn other useful phrases. Listen to it now:
Describing your job in French
When discussing jobs in French, you’ll also need to describe your work environment. You can use Je travaille, which means I work in French and can be used to specify where you work.
Here are some useful phrases:
Un hôspital
- Je travaille dans un hôpital. I work in a hospital.
Un magasin
- Je travaille dans un magasin. I work in a store.
Un restaurant
- Je travaille dans un restaurant. I work in a restaurant.
Une usine
- Je travaille dans une usine. I work in a factory.
Expressing Job Satisfaction in French
When talking about jobs in French, you might want to express your feelings about your work. Here are some phrases to do so:
J’aime mon travail
Use this phrase to express that you enjoy your work.
Je n’aime pas mon travail
If you are unhappy with your job, meaning ‘I do not like my job.’
By mastering these key phrases and vocabulary for talking about jobs in French, you’ll be well-equipped to discuss your profession in French. Whether you’re talking about your own career, asking about someone else’s job, or expressing your feelings about your work, these expressions will be invaluable.
Do you want to keep improving your French skills and talking in more detail about likes and dislikes? Then check the episode we prepared to teach you how to say ‘I love’ in French and much more!
12 thoughts on “Taking about jobs in French: essential vocabulary and phrases”
just found this program is so great! it helps me build my confidence in learning french! i’ve been looking for a tool focusing on pronouncation and speaking practice. now i found one : )
thanx a lot for producing this program. it saves me!
Someone recommended this site to me and I am thoroughly enjoying it, thank you so much.
I have just found this Podcast, it is the best one of all I bumped into when looking for french lessons, and the reason I chose to install all the lessons following a very good “proffessor” Mark and a very good “estudiant” Anna, ” je suis mexican”, I will keep enjoying it, please let me know where I can find more pronounciations like “architect” “developer” and “constructor”, MERCI!! 🙂
This is a terrific way of learning this beautiful language. It would be nice if somehow the spelling of the words could be shown.
very usefull.merci
I’m french and I would like to glad Anna for her great french accent (sometimes even better than her professor!)
Why can’t I access free coffeebreak French as I used to be able to do?
We had a problem earlier today which meant the podcast players were not showing on the site. This has now been rectified. Apologies for the inconvenience.
Hello, I am glad that you are back. I had downloaded the app and had paid 80 some dollars and I was already in season 2 when you decided to take down the application. I have tried to correspond with someone in your company, but I would not get any response. I thought I had access.
Can you please look up my account?
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I used to recommend Coffee Break French and Radio Lingua but I won’t now. The fact that your podcast has something about the sales makes it clear you can update your podcast, yet you continue to refuse to put any warning about the scam apps. You may as well be colluding with the scammers.
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Unfortunately there is very little we can do about this. We’ve now been through the legal process with Apple on over thirty separate occasions. Each time Apple finds in our favour and removes the apps, but the developers simply upload the app again within a few days under a different developer account. We have tried to warn our users through various channels, such as our website and this article: https://intercom.help/coffeebreaklanguages/en/articles/5065507-unauthorised-coffee-break-apps.
Regarding your concern about our podcast, we want to assure you that we are committed to keeping our community informed. We have not deliberately neglected to issue a specific warning in the podcast, but we understand how it may appear that way. We will take your feedback into consideration as we move forward.
We sincerely apologise for any confusion or concern this has caused, and we can assure you that we are not colluding with any scammers. Our goal is to protect our users and maintain the integrity of the Coffee Break Languages brand.
We hope this helps explain and that you can continue to enjoy our lessons. If you have any further questions or would like further information about this or any of our resources then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at team@coffeebreaklanguages.com. A member of our team would be happy to help.