Jobs and Professions in Portuguese and Their Feminine Forms
Portuguese job titles, how masculine and feminine forms work and phrases for talking about work.
Job titles in Portuguese usually have masculine and feminine forms, and there are regular patterns to learn.
Common jobs
| Masculine | Feminine | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| professor | professora | teacher |
| médico | médica | doctor |
| enfermeiro | enfermeira | nurse |
| advogado | advogada | lawyer |
| engenheiro | engenheira | engineer |
| cozinheiro | cozinheira | cook |
| motorista | motorista | driver |
| estudante | estudante | student |
| cantor | cantora | singer |
| ator | atriz | actor / actress |
| empresário | empresária | businessperson |
| agricultor | agricultora | farmer |
Patterns
| Masculine ending | Feminine ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -o | -a | médico → médica |
| -or | -ora | professor → professora |
| -ista, -ante, -ente | unchanged | dentista, estudante |
| -ês | -esa | português → portuguesa |
Saying what you do
- Sou professor. / Sou professora. — I'm a teacher.
- Trabalho num banco. — I work in a bank.
- Sou engenheiro de software. — I'm a software engineer.
- Estou desempregado / desempregada. — I'm unemployed.
- Estou aposentado / reformado. — I'm retired (BR / PT).
Note that ser (not estar) is used with professions, and no article is needed: Sou médico, not Sou um médico.
Asking
- O que você faz? — What do you do?
- Qual é a sua profissão? — What's your profession?
- Onde você trabalha? — Where do you work?
Workplaces
| Portuguese | Meaning |
|---|---|
| escritório | office |
| fábrica | factory |
| escola | school |
| hospital | hospital |
| loja | shop |
| empresa | company |
Work vocabulary
- salário — salary
- emprego — job
- colega — colleague
- chefe — boss
- reunião — meeting
- férias — holiday
Tips
- Learn masculine and feminine pairs.
- Use ser without an article.
- Use the dictionary to check forms.
English Portuguese Dictionary
Offline English–Portuguese dictionary with gender and accents handled properly
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