German For Beginners: Lesson 14: Was Sind Sie Von Beruf? What's Your Occupation?

German for Beginners: Lesson 14
Was sind Sie von Beruf? Whats your occupation?

This lesson introduces: (1) vocabulary related to occupations and trades, (2) expressions related to that vocabulary and (3) the grammar of accusative prepositions. A recommended review for this lesson is Part 2 of Lesson 11 (accusative case). Print this page (without ads) CULTURAL NOTE: Although it is quite common for English-speakers to ask new acquaintances what their profession is, Germans are less likely to do so. Some Germans wouldn't mind, but others may consider it an invasion of their personal sphere. This is something you'll just have to play by ear. Below you'll find a list of common occupations and professions. Note that all professions in German have both a feminine and a masculine form. We have listed the feminine form only in cases where it is not just the standard -in ending (as in der Arzt/die rztin), when there is also a difference in English (waiter/waitress), or when a job is more likely to be feminine (nurse, secretary) or the German feminine form is very common (student). GRAMMAR NOTE: When you say "I'm a student." or "He's an architect." in German, you normally leave out the "a" or "an": Ich bin Student(in). - Er ist Architekt. (no "ein" or "eine"). Only if an adjective is added, do you use "ein/eine" as in: Er ist ein guter Student. - Sie ist eine neue Architektin. See the examples in the chart below. Berufe - Professions Englisch architect auto mechanic baker bank teller bricklayer, stone mason broker stock broker real estate agent/broker bus driver computer programer cook, chef doctor, physician der Architekt der Automechaniker der Bcker der Bankangestellte, die Bankangestellte der Maurer der Makler der Brsenmakler der Immobilienmakler der Busfahrer der Programmierer, die Programmiererin der Koch, der Chefkoch die Kchin, die Chefkchin der Arzt, die rztin Deutsch
employee, white-collar worker employee, blue-collar worker IT worker joiner, cabinetmaker journalist musician nurse photographer secretary student, pupil (K-12) student (college, univ.)
der Angestellte, die Angestellte der Arbeiter, die Arbeiterin Angestellte/Angestellter in der Informatik der Tischler der Journalist der Musiker der Krankenpfleger, die Krankenschwester der Fotograf, die Fotografin der Sekretr, die Sekretrin der Schler, die Schlerin der Student, die Studentin
Student: Note that German makes a distinction between a school student/pupil and a college-level student. taxi driver teacher truck/lorry driver waiter - waitress worker, laborer der Taxifahrer der Lehrer, die Lehrerin der Lkw-Fahrer der Fernfahrer/Brummifahrer der Kellner - die Kellnerin der Arbeiter Q & A - Fragen und Antworten Questions and Answers Q: What's your occupation? Q: What do you do for a living? A: I'm a... Q: What's your occupation? A: I'm in insurance. A: I work at a bank. A: I work at a bookstore. Q: What does he/she do for a living? A: He/She runs a small business. Q: What does an auto mechanic do? A: He repairs cars. Q: Where do you work? A: At McDonald's. Q: Where does a nurse work? A: In a hospital. Q: At which company does he work? A: He's with DaimlerChrysler. F: Was sind Sie von Beruf? F: Was machen Sie beruflich? A: Ich bin... F: Was machen Sie beruflich? A: Ich bin in der Versicherungbranche. A: Ich arbeite bei einer Bank. A: Ich arbeite bei einer Buchhandlung. F: Was macht er/sie beruflich? A: Er/Sie fhrt einen kleinen Betrieb. F: Was macht ein Automechaniker? A: Er repariert Autos. F: Wo arbeiten Sie? A: Bei McDonald's. F: Wo arbeitet eine Krankenschwester? A: Im Krankenhaus/im Spital. F: Bei welcher Firma arbeitet er? A: Er ist bei DaimlerChrysler. Wo arbeiten Sie?
Where do you work? at Deutsche Bank at home at McDonald's at the office in a garage, auto repair shop in a hospital with a big/small company bei der Deutschen Bank zu Hause bei McDonald's im Bro in einer/in der Autowerkstatt in einem/im Krankenhaus/Spital bei einem groen/kleinen Unternehmen sich um eine Stelle bewerben Applying for a Position company, firm employer employment office interview job application I'm applying for a job. resume, CV die Firma der Arbeitgeber das Arbeitsamt (Web link) das Interview die Bewerbung Ich bewerbe mich um eine Stelle/einen Job. der Lebenslauf
Also see: German Stores and Businesses - English-German glossary
NEXT > Part 2 of this Lesson (Accusative prepositions) Below is an overview of the German accusative prepositions. When studying the prepositions, it is wise to remember that they don't always translate the same way in English and German. For example (zum Beispiel), English "for" can be expressed in German by the dative case or all of these prepositions: auf, fr, nach, um, and zu. Of these, only fr and um are accusative prepositions. Prepositions can be a dangerous minefield, so study them well, and carefully observe how they are used. Notice also that some of the prepositions below (durch, um) can mean more than one thing in English. (See our feature entitled Prepositional Pitfalls for more about this.) By "accusative prepositions" we mean those that always "govern" or "take" the accusative case. An accusative preposition will always be followed by an object (a noun or pronoun) in the accusative case. We will cover the dative and genitive prepositions in later lessons. Luckily, there are only five accusative prepositions you need to learn and memorize. In the chart below, we have listed each preposition in German and English (left column) with example prepositional phrases (right column). Another thing that makes this group of prepositions easier is the fact that only the masculine gender (der) changes in the accusative case. As we already pointed out in Lektion 11, neither the plural nor the feminine (die) and neuter (das) genders change in the accusative. GRAMMAR NOTE: The pronoun er (he) follows the same pattern as the definite article der (with which it rhymes!). Just as der changes to den, er changes to ihn (also with an "n" at the
end). Also keep in mind that the pronoun er can mean "it" when it refers to a masculine nonpersonal noun: der Wagen (the car) = er (it). Like er, all of the German personal pronouns have an accusative form that is different from the nominative (subject) form except for Sie/sie and es. This is similar to the case changes in English (he/him, I/me, she/her). Accusative Prepositions Prpositionen durch through, by Beispiele - Examples durch die Stadt through the city durch den Wald through the forest durch den Wind (caused) by the wind die Strae entlang down the street den Fluss entlang along the river Gehen Sie diesen Weg entlang. Go down this path.
entlang along, down
NOTE: The accusative preposition entlang, unlike the others, usually goes after its object, as shown above. fr for fr das Buch for the book fr ihn for him fr mich for me gegen alle Erwartungen against all expectations gegen die Mauer against the wall gegen Kopfschmerzen (medicine) for a headache gegen mich against me ohne den Wagen without the car ohne ihn without him ohne mich without me (count me out) um den See around the lake um eine Stelle (apply) for a job Er bewirbt sich um eine Stelle. He's applying for a position. um zehn Uhr at ten o'clock
gegen against, for
ohne without
um around, for, at
NOTE: The German preposition bis (until, to, by) is technically an accusative preposition, but since it's almost always used with a second preposition (bis zu, bis auf, etc.) in a different case, or without an article (bis April, bis Montag), it's not listed above. PERSONAL PRONOUNS in the ACCUSATIVE NOMINATIVE ich I du you (fam.) mich me dich you ACCUSATIVE
er he sie she es it wir we ihr you (guys) sie they Sie you (formal)
ihn him sie her es it uns us euch you (guys) sie them Sie you (formal) da- Compounds
All of the accusative prepositions except "entlang," "ohne" and "bis" form what are called "da-compounds" to express what would be a prepositional phrase in English. Da-compounds are not used for people (personal pronouns). Prepositions beginning with a vowel add a connecting r. See the examples below. THING dadurch through it, by it dafr for it dagegen against it darum for that reason PERSON durch ihn/sie through him/her fr ihn/sie for him/her gegen ihn/sie against him/her um ihn/sie around him/her Also see: Lektion 11 - Part 2 The Accusative Case

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German for Beginners: Lesson 14

Was sind Sie von Beruf? Whats your occupation?

Also see: German Stores and Businesses - English-German glossary

entlang along, down

gegen against, for

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