How to Talk About Your Occupation

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Italian by ItalianPod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about your occupation in Italian.

For example, "I’m an investor." is

Sono investitore.

Two passengers, Emily Erba and Paolo Parisi , are seated next to each other on a plane to Italy.

Before you hear their conversation, let's learn some of its key components.

studente

"student"

studente

investitore

"investor"

investitore

Listen to the conversation, and focus on Paolo’s response.

Note: the speakers in this conversation use formal Italian.

Ready?

È studente?

No, non sono studente. Sono investitore.

Once more with the English translation.

È studente?

“Are you a student?”

No, non sono studente. Sono investitore.

“No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor.”

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Emily asks,

"Are you a student?"

È studente?

First is è, “you are” when using formal Italian. è. È.

Note: è is a shortened form of lei è, “you are.” In Italian, lei, “you,” when using formal Italian, can be omitted when it is understood from context.

È is from the verb essere, meaning "to be." Essere.

Next is studente, "student." Studente. Studente.

In Italian, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Studente is masculine singular.

All together, È studente? Are you a student? È studente?

Now, let's take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how Paolo says,

"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."

No, non sono studente. Sono investitore.

First is the expression, no, meaning, "no." No. No.

It answers Emily 's yes-or-no question, "Are you a student?" È studente?

After this, Paolo specifies that he’s not a student. Non sono studente. "I'm not a student." Non sono studente.

First is non, "not." Non. Non.

Next is sono. "I am." Sono. Sono.

Note: here sono is a shortened form of io sono, “I am.” In Italian, io, I, is usually omitted, as it’s understood from context.

Sono is from the verb essere, meaning "to be." essere.

Together, it's non sono, literally "Not I am," but it translates as "I'm not." Non sono.

Next is Studente. "Student." Studente.

All together, Non sono studente. "I'm not a student." Non sono studente.

Paolo then tells Emily his actual occupation. Sono investitore. "I'm an investor." Sono investitore.

First, sono "I am." Sono.

Next is investitore, "investor." Investitore. Investitore.

Investitore is a masculine singular noun.

Together, Sono investitore. "I'm an investor." Sono investitore.

All together, No, non sono studente. Sono investitore.

"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."

No, non sono studente. Sono investitore.

The pattern is

No, non sono OCCUPATION. Sono ACTUAL OCCUPATION.

"No, I'm not OCCUPATION. I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION."

No, non sono OCCUPATION. Sono ACTUAL OCCUPATION.

To use this pattern, simply replace the OCCUPATION and ACTUAL OCCUPATION placeholders with the occupations that are appropriate to the conversation.

Note: This pattern requires nouns. In some cases, the noun used to describe the occupations will depend on the gender of the speaker. For example, studente would be used by a male student and studentessa would be used by a female student.

Imagine you’re Emma Esposito , a student. Again, the word for a female student is studentessa. Studentessa. Studentessa.

Paolo Parisi asks you if you’re a teacher, insegnante. Insegnante. Insegnante.

Say

"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student."

Ready?

No, non sono insegnante. Sono studentessa.

"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student."

No, non sono insegnante. Sono studentessa.

In Italian, some occupations have the same word for both genders. For example, insegnante.

Insegnante, "teacher."

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 pattern is,

No, non sono OCCUPATION. Sono ACTUAL OCCUPATION.

"No, I'm not OCCUPATION. I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION."

No, non sono OCCUPATION. Sono ACTUAL OCCUPATION.

Let’s look at some more examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

No, non sono studente. Sono investitore.

"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."

No, non sono studente. Sono investitore.

No, non sono insegnante. Sono studentessa.

"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student."

No, non sono insegnante. Sono studentessa.

No, non sono medico. Sono scienziata.

"No, I'm not a doctor. I'm a scientist."

No, non sono medico. Sono scienziata.

No, non sono infermiera. Sono medico.

"No, I'm not a nurse. I'm a doctor."

No, non sono infermiera. Sono medico.

No, non sono studente. Sono insegnante.

"No, I'm not a student. I'm a teacher."

No, non sono studente. Sono insegnante.

No, sono barista.

"No, I'm a barista."

No, sono barista.

Did you notice how the last speaker omits part of the response?

No, sono barista. No, I’m a barista. No, sono barista.

When directly responding to someone's question, it’s often possible to omit part of the response.

Here by simply answering No, “no,” there’s no need to say non sono studentessa, “I’m not a student.”

This pattern is

No, sono ACTUAL OCCUPATION.

"No, I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION."

You should be aware of this pattern, but for this lesson, we'll use the pattern

No, non sono OCCUPATION. Sono ACTUAL OCCUPATION.

"No, I'm not OCCUPATION. I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION."

Let's review the key vocabulary.

In Italian, occupation terms can vary based on gender. In these cases, we provide the masculine word for the occupation followed by the feminine one.

“Student.”

Studente. Studente.

Studentessa. Studentessa.

"Teacher." Insegnante. Insegnante.

"Scientist." Scienziato. Scienziato.

Scienziata. Scienziata.

“Nurse.”

Infermiere. , "male nurse." Infermiere.

Infermiera. , "female nurse." Infermiera.

Medico. "Doctor." Medico. Medico.

Barista. "Barista." Barista. Barista.

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after me, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember the word for a male “investor?”

Investitore.

And how Paolo says,

"I'm an investor."

Sono investitore.

Do you remember the word for a male "student?"

studente.

studente

And how to say "not?"

Non.

Do you remember how Paolo says,

"I'm not a student."

Non sono studente.

And how to say "no?"

No.

Do you remember how Paolo Parisi says,

"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."

No, non sono studente. Sono investitore.

Do you remember how Emily Erba asks,

"Are you a student?"

Remember Emily uses formal Italian.

È studente?

Do you remember the word for a female “student?”

Studentessa.

And the word for "teacher?"

Insegnante.

Do you remember the word for "engineer?"

Ingegnere.

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Emily Erba , and you’re a scientist, or scienziata in Italian.

Respond to Paolo’s question.

Ready?

È medico?

No, non sono medico. Sono scienziata.

Listen again and repeat.

No, non sono medico. Sono scienziata.

Let's try another.

Imagine you're Felice Angelini, and you’re a teacher, or insegnante in Italian.

Ready?

È studente?

No, non sono studente. Sono insegnante.

Listen again and repeat.

No, non sono studente. Sono insegnante.

Let's try one more.

Now, imagine you're Emma Esposito , and you’re a student, or studentessa in Italian.

Ready?

È insegnante?

No, non sono insegnante. Sono studentessa.

Listen again and repeat.

No, non sono insegnante. Sono studentessa.

In this lesson, you learned how to talk about your occupation in Italian. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of introducing yourself. Let’s review.

Do you remember how Emily Erba says,

"I'm Emily Erba."

Sono Emily Erba.

And do you remember how Emily Erba says

"Nice to meet you. I’m Emily Erba."

Piacere, sono Emily Erba.

And do you remember how Emily says,

"I am from Miami."

Sono di Miami.

And do you remember how Paolo Parisi asks,

"Where are you from?"

Di dov'è?

Do you remember the word for an "American" woman?

Americana.

And do you remember how Emily Erba says,

"Yes, I'm American?"

Sì, sono americana.

Do you remember how Paolo Parisi asks,

"Are you American?"

Sei americana?

Imagine you're Jack Jones , a student from London, and you're British.

Do you remember how to pronounce "Jack Jones" in Italian?

Jack Jones

Respond to Paolo Parisi 's self-introduction and follow-up questions.

Ready?

Buongiorno. Sono Paolo Parisi. Piacere.

Piacere. Sono Jack Jones.

Listen again, and repeat.

Piacere. Sono Jack Jones.

Do you remember how to say "London" in Italian?

Londra

Now respond that you’re from London.

Di dov'è?

Sono di Londra.

Listen again and repeat.

Sono di Londra.

And do you remember how to say "British" in Italian?

inglese

Now respond that you’re British.

Ah! Sei inglese?

Sì, sono inglese.

Listen again and repeat.

Sì, sono inglese.

Now, do you remember how to say "student" when talking about a man in Italian?

studente

Respond that you're a student.

È insegnante?

No, non sono insegnante. Sono studente.

Listen again and repeat.

No, non sono insegnante. Sono studente.

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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