Welcome to Can-Do Spanish by SpanishPod101.com. |
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about your occupation in Spanish. |
For example, "I’m an investor." is |
Soy inversionista. |
Two passengers, Valeria Varela and Ángel Salazar Almonte , are seated next to each other on a plane to Mexico. |
Before you hear their conversation, let's learn some of its key components. |
estudiante |
"student" |
estudiante |
estudiante |
inversionista |
"investor" |
Inversionista |
inversionista |
Listen to the conversation and focus on Angel's response. |
Note: the speakers in this conversation use informal Spanish. |
Ready? |
¿Eres estudiante? |
No, no soy estudiante. Soy inversionista. |
Once more with the English translation. |
¿Eres estudiante? |
"Are you a student?" |
No, no soy estudiante. Soy inversionista. |
"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor." |
Let's break down the conversation. |
Do you remember how Valeria asks, |
"Are you a student?" |
¿Eres estudiante? |
First is eres, which means "are," as in "you are." Eres. Eres. |
Note: eres is a shortened form of tú eres, “you are.” In Spanish, tú, “you” is often omitted as it is understood. |
Eres comes from the verb ser, meaning "to be." Ser. |
Next is estudiante, "student." Estudiante. Estudiante. |
In Spanish, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Estudiante is masculine and singular. |
All together, it’s ¿Eres estudiante? “Are you a student ?” |
¿Eres estudiante? |
Now, let's take a closer look at the response. |
Do you remember how Angel says, |
"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor." |
No, no soy estudiante. Soy inversionista. |
First is no, "no." No. No. |
It answers Valeria's yes-or-no question, "Are you a student?" ¿Eres estudiante? |
After this, Angel specifies that he is not a student. No soy estudiante."I'm not a student." No soy estudiante. |
First is no, meaning "not" here. No. |
Next is soy. " am." Soy. Soy. |
Note: soy is a shortened form of yo soy. In Spanish, the yo, "I," is usually omitted as it is understood. |
Soy is from the verb ser, meaning "to be." Ser. |
Together, no soy, literally means "not am." But it translates as "I'm not." No soy. |
Next is estudiante. "Student." Estudiante. |
All together, No soy estudiante. "I'm not a student." No soy estudiante. |
Angel then tells Valeria his actual occupation. Soy inversionista. "I'm an investor." Soy inversionista. |
First is soy. " am." Soy. |
Next is inversionista. "Investor." Inversionista. Inversionista. |
Inversionista is a masculine singular noun. |
Together, Soy inversionista. “I’m an investor.” Soy inversionista. |
All together, No, no soy estudiante. Soy inversionista. |
"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor." |
No, no soy estudiante. Soy inversionista. |
The pattern is |
No, no soy OCCUPATION. Soy ACTUAL OCCUPATION. |
"No, I'm not OCCUPATION. I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION." |
No, no soy OCCUPATION. Soy ACTUAL OCCUPATION. |
Imagine you’re Emma López , a student. |
Ángel Salazar asks you if you’re a "teacher.” The word for a female “teacher” is maestra. Maestra. Maestra. |
Say |
"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student." |
Ready? |
No, no soy maestra. Soy estudiante. |
"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student." |
No, no soy maestra. Soy estudiante. |
In Spanish, some occupations have the same word for both genders. For example, "student," estudiante. Estudiante. |
However, much of the time, words will differ depending on gender. In general, nouns that end in -o tend to be masculine, while nouns that end in -a tend to be feminine. |
Again, the key pattern is |
No, no soy OCCUPATION. Soy ACTUAL OCCUPATION. |
"No, I'm not OCCUPATION. I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION." |
No, no soy OCCUPATION. Soy ACTUAL OCCUPATION. |
Let's look at some more examples. |
Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers. |
No, no soy estudiante. Soy inversionista. |
"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor." |
No, no soy estudiante. Soy inversionista. |
No, no soy maestra. Soy estudiante. |
"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student." |
No, no soy maestra. Soy estudiante. |
No, no soy doctora. Soy científica. |
"No, I'm not a doctor. I'm a scientist." |
No, no soy doctora. Soy científica. |
No, no soy enfermera. Soy doctora. |
"No, I'm not a nurse. I'm a doctor." |
No, no soy enfermera. Soy doctora. |
No, no soy estudiante. Soy maestro. |
"No, I'm not a student. I'm a teacher." |
No, no soy estudiante. Soy maestro. |
No, soy barista. |
"No, I'm a barista." |
No, soy barista. |
Did you notice how the last speaker omits part of the response? |
No, soy barista. |
"No, I'm a barista." No, soy barista. |
When directly responding to someone's question, it’s often possible to omit part of the response. |
Here by simply answering No, “no,” you can omit no soy estudiante, “I’m not a student.” |
This pattern is |
No, soy ACTUAL OCCUPATION. |
"No, I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION." |
You should be aware of this pattern, but for this lesson, we'll use the pattern |
No, no soy OCCUPATION. Soy ACTUAL OCCUPATION. |
"No, I'm not OCCUPATION. I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION." |
Let's review the key vocabulary. |
In Spanish, occupation terms can vary based on gender. In these cases, we provide the masculine word for the occupation followed by the feminine one. |
“Student.” |
Estudiante. Estudiante. |
"Teacher." |
Maestro.. Maestro. |
Maestra. Maestra. |
"Scientist." |
científico. científico. |
científica. científica. |
“Nurse.” |
Enfermero. Enfermero. |
Enfermera. Enfermera. |
“Doctor.” |
Doctor. Doctor. |
Doctora. Doctora. |
"Barista." |
Barista. Barista. |
Let’s review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speakers, focusing on pronunciation. Ready? |
Do you remember the word for a male “investor?” |
Inversionista. |
Inversionista. |
Do you remember how Angel says, |
"I'm an investor." |
Soy inversionista. |
Soy inversionista. |
Do you remember how to say “student?” |
Estudiante. |
Estudiante. |
And how to say "not?" |
No. |
No. |
Do you remember how Angel says, |
"I'm not a student" |
No soy estudiante. |
No soy estudiante. |
Do you remember how Angel Salazar says, |
"I'm not a student. I'm an investor." |
No soy estudiante. Soy inversionista. |
No soy estudiante. Soy inversionista. |
Do you remember how Valeria Varela asks, |
"Are you a student?" |
¿Eres estudiante? |
¿Eres estudiante? |
Do you remember the word for a male “teacher?” |
Maestro. |
Maestro. |
And the word for a female "teacher?" |
Maestra. |
Maestra. |
Do you remember the word for a female "scientist?" |
científica |
científica |
Let's practice. |
Imagine you're Emma Lopez, and you are a student, or estudiante in Spanish. |
Respond to Angel's question. |
Ready? |
¿Eres maestra? |
No, no soy maestra. Soy estudiante. |
Listen again and repeat. |
No, no soy maestra. Soy estudiante. |
No, no soy maestra. Soy estudiante. |
Let's try another. |
Imagine you're Victor Trejo and you’re a teacher, or maestro in Spanish. |
Respond to Angel's question. |
Ready? |
¿Eres estudiante? |
No, no soy estudiante. Soy maestro. |
Listen again and repeat. |
No, no soy estudiante. Soy maestro. |
No, no soy estudiante. Soy maestro. |
Let's try one more. |
Now, imagine you're Valeria Varela , and you’re a scientist, or científica in Spanish. |
Respond to Angel's question. |
Ready? |
¿Eres maestra? |
No, soy cientifica. |
Listen again and repeat. |
No, soy cientifica. |
No, soy cientifica. |
In this lesson, you learned how to talk about your occupation in Spanish. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of introducing yourself. Let’s review. |
Do you remember how Valeria Varela says, |
"I'm Valeria." |
Soy Valeria. |
Soy Valeria. |
And do you remember how Valeria Varela says |
"Nice to meet you. I’m Valeria." |
Mucho gusto, soy Valeria. |
Mucho gusto, soy Valeria. |
And how to say "from?" |
de |
de |
Do you remember how Valeria says, |
"I'm from Florida." |
Soy de Florida. |
Soy de Florida. |
Do you remember how to say "where?" |
Dónde. |
Dónde. |
And the formal word for "you?" |
Usted. |
Usted. |
And do you remember how Angel Salazar asks, |
"Where are you from?" |
¿De dónde es usted? |
¿De dónde es usted? |
Do you remember how to say "American?" |
estadounidense |
estadounidense |
And do you remember how Valeria Varela says |
"I'm American?" |
Soy estadounidense. |
Soy estadounidense. |
Do you remember how Angel Salazar Almonte asks, |
"Are you American?" |
¿Eres estadounidense? |
¿Eres estadounidense? |
Imagine you're Jack Jones , a student from London, and you're English. |
Do you remember how to pronounce "Jack Jones" in Spanish? |
Jack Jones |
Jack Jones |
Respond to Angel Salazar Almonte 's self-introduction and follow-up question… |
Ready? |
Hola. Soy Ángel. Mucho gusto. |
Mucho gusto. Soy Jack. |
Listen again, and repeat. |
Mucho gusto. Soy Jack. |
Mucho gusto. Soy Jack. |
Do you remember how to say "London" in Spanish? |
Londres |
Londres |
Now respond that you’re from London. |
¿De dónde es usted? |
Soy de Londres. |
Listen again and repeat. |
Soy de Londres. |
Soy de Londres. |
And do you remember how to say "English" in Spanish? |
inglés |
inglés |
Now respond that you’re English. |
¿Eres inglés? |
Sí, soy inglés. |
Listen again and repeat. |
Sí, soy inglés. |
Sí, soy inglés. |
Now, do you remember how to say "student" in Spanish? |
estudiante |
estudiante |
Respond that you're a student. |
¿Eres maestro? |
No, no soy maestro. Soy estudiante. |
Listen again and repeat. |
No, no soy maestro. Soy estudiante. |
No, no soy maestro. Soy estudiante. |
Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Introduce Yourself unit of this course. |
Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills. |
What's next? |
Show us what you can do. |
When you're ready, take your assessment. |
You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like. |
Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results. |
Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson! |
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