Arbeit und Beruf
"What's your job?" is a standard small-talk question and a standard Sprechen exam prompt. It's also central to actually settling in Germany. Today combines vocabulary with the dative (Lesson 18) and Perfekt (Lesson 16) you already have.
| die Arbeit | work | der Beruf | profession |
| die Firma | company | der Kollege / die Kollegin | colleague (m/f) |
| das Büro | office | der Chef / die Chefin | boss (m/f) |
Was sind Sie von Beruf? (What's your profession? - formal, standard phrasing)
Ich bin Lehrer/Lehrerin. (I'm a teacher [m/f] - no "ein" before the profession!)
Ich arbeite bei einer Firma. (I work at a company. - bei triggers dative, Lesson 18)
Unlike English "I am a teacher," German drops the article entirely for professions: Ich bin Lehrer, not "Ich bin ein Lehrer." This is a common transfer error from English worth flagging early.
Ich habe drei Jahre als Lehrer gearbeitet. (I worked as a teacher for three years.)
Ich habe bei einer Firma in Bangkok gearbeitet.
arbeiten → gearbeitet, a regular ge-...-t participle (Lesson 16) with the extra -e- from arbeiten's stem, same as its present-tense forms.
1. "What's your profession?" - Was sind Sie von ______?
2. "I'm a teacher." - Ich bin ______.
3. What's the past participle of "arbeiten" (to work)?
4. What's the article for "Firma" (company)?
5. Does German use an article before a stated profession?
Vocabulary cross-checked against the "Arbeit und Beruf" topic in the official Goethe-Zertifikat A1 Wortliste.
Want to prepare a short self-introduction for a job interview? Ask your teaching agent to help build and check it.