English · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 36
What do you do?
Dialogue
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I am teacher or I'm a teacher?
- EmmaAlex, what do you do?
- AlexI am teacher. I work in school.
- EmmaAlmost! A singular job needs "a": "I'm a teacher." And "I work in a school."
- AlexAh, I see. I'm a teacher, and I work in a school. My sister is an engineer.
- EmmaPerfect — "an engineer", because "engineer" starts with a vowel sound. What does your sister do exactly?
- AlexShe works for a car company. She's a manager, so she's very busy.
Dialogue
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At the office
- JackEmma, this is a nice office. What do you do here?
- EmmaI'm a designer. I work for a small company, and I really like my colleagues.
- JackThat sounds great. Is your boss nice?
- EmmaYes, she's a good manager. And what about you? What do you do?
- JackI'm a nurse. I work in a hospital, and I love helping people.
Vocabulary
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- job
nounjob
- manager
nounmanager
- nurse
nounnurse
- engineer
nounengineer
- waiter
nounwaiter
- office
nounoffice
- company
nouncompany
- customer
nouncustomer
- boss
nounboss
- colleague
nouncolleague
- earn
verbearn
Grammar
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"What do you do?" and "I'm a nurse"
Explanation
To ask someone's job, English does not say "What is your job?" in everyday speech. It says "What do you do?" — the present simple you learned in chapter 18, used here to mean "what do you do for a living?". To answer, you must put "a" (or "an" before a vowel sound) in front of a singular job: "I'm a nurse", "She's an engineer", "He's a manager", "They're teachers" (plural drops the article). This is a fixed rule of English: a singular job is always "a / an + job". Three useful patterns say where or for whom you work: "work as a…" + job (I work as a waiter), "work for…" + a company or person (She works for a bank), "work in…" + a place or field (He works in an office / in marketing). Many languages have no article, so learners drop it: "I am teacher" ✗, "She is engineer" ✗ → "I'm a teacher", "She's an engineer" ✓.
Examples
- "What do you do?" — "I'm a nurse. I work in a hospital.""What do you do?" — "I'm a nurse. I work in a hospital."
- She's an engineer and she works for a big company.She's an engineer and she works for a big company.
- My brother works as a waiter, so he meets a lot of customers.My brother works as a waiter, so he meets a lot of customers.
- They're teachers. They don't earn much, but they love their job.They're teachers. They don't earn much, but they love their job.
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