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Talking about one's profession/occupation
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When people meet each other, they often mention their profession,
occupation. In Russian language there is no such a question as
"What do you do?". Russians ask: "What is your
profession/occupation" instead. So your new Russian friend may ask you:
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Кто
ты по-профессии? |
literally: What is your profession?
- informal (ты
is used ) |
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Кто вы по-профессии? Кто
он (она) по-профессии? |
What is your profession? - formal and plural
(вы is used )
What does he (she) do?
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Remember to use вы when speaking to more than one person, or as a formal way of addressing one person.
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To answer this question (to tell what do you do, what is your
profession/occupation),
you can simply say:
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Я
студент. |
I am a student. |
Я врач. |
I am an doctor. |
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This Nominative case structure is also used to explain what someone
else does, what is his/her profession.
Listen and repeat:
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Мой
друг журналист. |
My friend is a journalist. |
Иван
Сергеевич инженер. |
Ivan Sergeyevich is an engineer. |
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Notes
- This structure has no verb in the present tense.
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Word Building. Suffix -к-
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Some words for professions have masculine and feminine forms. The suffix
-к- (plus the ending -а) is used to form feminine nouns from masculine.
Here are some examples of masculine and feminine forms.
Click each pair of words below to listen, repeat the words, imitating their
pronunciation.
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| Professions
(male and female forms) |
артист -
артистка |
actor -actress |
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студент -
студентка |
university student |
аспирант
- аспирантка |
post-graduate student |
журналист
- журналистка |
journalist |
спортсмен
- спортсменка |
sportsman |
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Read the following sentences aloud:
Павел студент и Лена студентка.
Иван Петрович журналист.
Анна Петровна журналистка.
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Word Building. Suffix -иц- (-ниц-)
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The suffix -иц- (-ниц-) (plus the ending -а) is
also used to form feminine nouns from masculine.
Click each pair of words below to listen, repeat the words, imitating their
pronunciation.
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| Professions
(male and female forms) |
певец -
певица |
singer |
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писатель -
писательница |
writer |
преподаватель
- преподавательница |
university instructor |
учитель
- учительница |
grade school teacher |
школьник
- школьница |
grade school student |
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Read the following sentences aloud:
Андрей школьник и Ира школьница.
Мой брат писатель.
Моя сестра певица.
Павел Антонович учитель.
Татьяна Сергеевна учительница.
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Notes
- The possessive pronouns мой and моя mean
"my". Мой is used for a male person and моя
for a female person. Possessive pronouns will be discussed in
detail later on.
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Words which are used for male and female persons
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For many professions one word is used for both male and female
person.
Click the words to listen, repeat the words, imitating their
pronunciation.
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| Professions
(one word for both male and female) |
бизнесмен |
businessman |
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врач |
doctor |
инженер |
engineer |
повар |
cook |
программист |
programmer |
пилот |
pilot |
строитель |
builder, constructor |
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Notes
- Russians would rather say бизнес-леди about a
woman instead of бизнесмен, though the word
бизнесмен may be used for both men and women.
Listen to the words for professions introduced above as many times as you need, read them aloud at least three times each and
memorize.
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Reading and Writing: I'm a businessman - Я бизнесмен
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1. Read the following sentences aloud. Write them down on paper
or type on your computer. Translate the sentences.
1. Игорь бизнесмен.
2. Татьяна Викторовна врач.
3. Сергей повар и Алла повар.
4. Я студент.
5. Я студентка.
6. Михаил, Антон и Ольга студенты.
2. Tell what you do, what is your profession/occupation in Russian.
Tell what your mom and dad (brother, sister, friend) do, what is
their profession. Use your English -
Russian dictionary if necessary.
3. Write down you story on paper
or type it on your computer, then read it aloud at least three times.
4. Keep the written story for future reference.
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Speaking
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1. Tell your story without looking at what you have
written.
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