My job

Talking about your job in Italian

In Italian, there are two main ways to talk about your profession:

1. Lavoro come + profession — describes what you do for work

"Lavoro come insegnante." (I work as a teacher.)

"Lavoro come programmatore." (I work as a programmer.)

2. Sono + profession — identifies the profession as part of your identity

"Sono insegnante." (I'm a teacher.)

"Sono medico." (I'm a doctor.)

Important: In Italian, you do NOT use the article before the profession with "sono":

• ✅ Sono insegnante.
• ❌ Sono un insegnante. (except to add an adjective: Sono un bravo insegnante.)

Job vocabulary

• insegnante (Masculine) / insegnante (Feminine) → teacher (English)
• medico (Masculine) / medico / medica (Feminine) → doctor (English)
• avvocato (Masculine) / avvocata / avvocatessa (Feminine) → lawyer (English)
• cameriere (Masculine) / cameriera (Feminine) → waiter/waitress (English)
• programmatore (Masculine) / programmatrice (Feminine) → programmer (English)
• infermiere (Masculine) / infermiera (Feminine) → nurse (English)
• cuoco (Masculine) / cuoca (Feminine) → cook/chef (English)

Expressing duration: da + time

To say how long you have been doing something:

"Lavoro qui da tre anni." (I have been working here for three years.)

"Studio italiano da sei mesi." (I have been studying Italian for six months.)

Asking about work

• "Cosa fai nella vita?" (What do you do for a living?)
• "Dove lavori?" (Where do you work?)
• "Ti piace il tuo lavoro?" (Do you like your job?)
• "Da quanto tempo lavori lì?" (How long have you been working there?)

💬 Example: "Sono medico e lavoro in un ospedale da cinque anni. Mi piace molto il mio lavoro." (I'm a doctor and I've been working in a hospital for five years. I really like my job.)