Profesions: professions in Spanish

Atprofessions,professions in spanish, are defined as labor activities linked to technical, administrative or industrial processes, based on some level of specialization (higher education or vocational courses, for example). In Spanish, the professions are different from offices, which are types of work more focused on manual and artisanal processes. Both, professions and offices, are words that designate the activities that people perform, usually based on contracts with companies and customers, and for which they receive remuneration.

There are hundreds of names of professions/crafts, both in Portuguese and in Spanish, but in this article we will focus on the vocabulary of the best known, those that are possibly more part of our daily lives. We will also see some examples of the use of words related to professions in idioms in Spanish and also an example of a dialogue about professions.

Read too: Los colors - the colors in spanish

List of professions in Spanish

The following table presents, in alphabetical order, the words referring to the vocabulary of

professions,professions in Spanish, with its meaning in Portuguese.

Spanish	Portuguese
abogado	lawyer
actor/actress	actor actress
administrative (a)	administrative employee
farmer (a) / farmer (a)	farmer (a)
albanil	mason (a)
I love (a) from home	house owner
architect (a)	architect
ballet dancer)	dancer
barrendero	street sweeper
basurero (a)	garbage collector / garbage (a)
firefighter (a)	firefighter (a)
cajero	box
chambermaid (a) / mesero (a)	waiter waitress
singing	singer)
butcher (a)	butcher (a)
carpenter	carpenter
letter (a)	postman
scientific (a)	scientist
cook	cook
conductor	driver
fix	caretaker
accountable	accountant
runner)	broker)
dentist	dentist
dependent	clerk
sportsman	athlete
electrician	electrician
entrepreneur	businessman (a)
nurse	nurse
writer	writer
pharmacist (a)	pharmacist
fontanero (a) / polymer (a)	plumber)
photographer	photographer
ingenuity	engineer (a)
investigator)	researcher
gardener	gardener
judge	judge)
mechanic	mechanic (a)
doctor	doctor
baby (a)	babysitter
baker (a)	baker (a)
pastry (a) / repostero (a)	confectioner
peluquero	hairdresser
journalist	journalist
fisherman	fisherman
painter)	painter)
police	policeman
teacher	teacher)
psychologist	psychologist
receptionist	receptionist
secretary	secretary
cabby	cabby
operator	operator
seller)	seller)
veterinarian	veterinarian
zapatero (a)	shoemaker (a)

Expressions with professions

To illustrate the use of this vocabulary, let's look at some idiomatic expressions that use words related to professions:

-to do abogado del devil: means defending positions and opinions considered indefensible according to common sense;

-be more vague what a joke of a guardian: Describes a person who refuses to work or perform any activity that requires effort. The expression has its origins in the custom of the Spanish forest rangers of taking off their coats before starting to work, as they were heavy and were hot, hindering manual work;

-pass more hambre que un conductor of school: indicates a situation of extreme poverty. The origin of the expression is the difficult economic situation faced by teachers, especially until the 19th century.

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See too: The days of the week – the days of the week in spanish

Dialogue on Professions

In Spanish there are some ways to ask yourself about someone's profession/occupation. The phrases are generally used What are you doing?, What are you dedicated to? or ¿En qué you work?. Let's look at this example of a dialogue about professions, followed by its translation into Portuguese:

Maria: Oye What are you doing?
Paul: ¿Yo? Pues yo soy civil ingeniero. I work in a construction company.
Maria: I am maestra de medio tiempo. I am also an administrator of my own business. ¿Qué tal tu work?
Paul: It's an interesting job, but we always have a lot to do… You know, every job is difficult in one way or another.
Maria: Dimelo to me that I have from work.

(Maria: Listen, what do you do?
Paul: Me? I am a civil engineer. I work at a construction company.
María: I'm a part-time teacher. I am also the manager of my own business. How is your work?
Paul: It's an interesting job, but we always have a lot to do... You know, every job is difficult in one way or another.
María: Tell me, I have two!)

Professions: each and every one has its importance.

Exercise solved

Question 1 - Consider the following humorous descriptions of some professions in Spanish:

I. Persona that carries out exact estimates based on unreliable data compiled by questionable knowledgeable personnel.

II. Person that when he says that alcohol is a solution, it is literally.

III. Persona that stays in the interior of the others (in the veins, to be more exact).

IV. Only profesional who asks what ya know.

V. Persona that made tutorials before it went out of fashion.

Based on common knowledge about what professionals from various fields do and paying attention to the metaphors present in the descriptions, which professions do they refer to, respectively?

The) mechanic (a), doctor (a), architect (a), judge (a) and journalist

B) runner (a), seller (a), psychologist (a), journalist and operator

ç) ingenuity, chemical (a), nurse, abogado and teacher

d) administrative (a), pharmacist (a), researcher (a), scientific (a) and writer

Resolution

Alternative C.

By Diego Guimarães Gontijo
Spanish teacher