Lesson 22: Jobs and Professions

“What do you do?” is everyday small talk. In Hebrew it’s wonderfully simple — you say “I’m a teacher” with no word for “a” and no word for “am”.

Getting to know each other

Grammar: “I am a…” (no extra words)

To state your job, just say אֲנִי (ani) + the profession. There’s no “a” and no “am”:

• אֲנִי מוֹרֶה ani more — “I’m a teacher” (a man)
• אֲנִי מוֹרָה ani mora — “I’m a teacher” (a woman)

Most professions have a masculine and a feminine form, usually with the feminine adding ־ָה (-a) or ־ית (-it). To ask, use בַּמֶּה אַתָּה עוֹבֵד? (bame ata oved?, “what do you work in?”) or simply מָה אַתָּה עוֹשֶׂה? (ma ata ose?, “what do you do?”).

Tip: עֲבוֹדָה (avoda) is “work”, and עוֹבֵד / עוֹבֶדֶת (oved / ovedet) is the verb “to work”.

Vocabulary