Professions in French

Professions in French If youre going to live and work in France, get to know the terms for the  professions in Fench. Its impossible to list all possible professions, but there are some common ones you should know. Note that many French professions have only a masculine form. Even if you are a female professor, for example, you would have to say that you are un  professeur, which takes the masculine form, including the masculine article,  un.   The terms below are listed in alphabetical order according to the English word for the profession for easy reference. The first column contains the word for the profession in English, while the second contains the correct French article- ​un  for masculine terms and  une  for feminine words- followed by the word in Fench. Click on each French term to hear the proper way to pronounce it. Note that while in English, it is to simply say the word for the profession, such as actor, in French the word is almost always preceded by the article. Study the table, and listen to the pronunciations in French, and youll soon be saying  un  boucher,  un  boulanger, un  fabricant de bougeoirs- the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker- like a French-speaking native. French Professions Profession in English French Translation actor un acteur actress une actrice artist un(e) artiste baker un boulanger, une boulangre butcher un boucher carpenter un charpentier cashier un caissier, une caissire civil servant un(e) fonctionnaire cook un chef dentist un(e) dentiste doctor un mdecin electrician un lectricien employee un(e) employ(e) engineer un ingnieur fireman un pompier lawyer (barrister) un avocat, une avocate maid une femme de chambre manager un grant mechanic un mcanicien nurse un infirmier, une infirmire painter un peintre pharmacist un pharmacien, une pharmacienne plumber un plombier police office un policier receptionist un(e) rceptionniste secretary un(e) secrtaire student un tudiant, une tudiante teacher un professeur* waiter un serveur waitress une serveuse writer un crivain Notes About Un, Une, and Etre In Canada and parts of Switzerland, the feminine form une professeure exists. In France, however, this is usually considered incorrect. On the other hand, you can say une prof., a slang way of saying a professor or a teacher. Note that the feminine article,  une, is fine in this case if you are referring to a female educator. Do not use an article between the verb  Ãƒ ªtre  and someones profession, as in these examples:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je suis peintre. - Im a painter.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il va à ªtre mà ©decin. - Hes going to be a doctor. Social Norms In France, asking about what someone does for a living is considered a personal question. If you have to ask, be sure to preface your question with Si ce nest pas indiscret  ... ,   which translates as, If you dont mind my asking ... After you learn the terms for professions in French, take a little extra time to learn what a  typical French conversation  between two people would look like. This will give you a chance to see how French articles, as well as  noms  (nouns),  conjonctions  (conjunctions),  adjectifs  (adjectives), and  adverbes  (adverbs) fit into a dialogue in French.