40 Spanish jobs and professions for beginners

Spanish jobs vocabulary

How do you name a job in Spanish?

Many profession nouns change -o to -a: médico/médica, cocinero/cocinera and arquitecto/arquitecta. Others form a feminine in -a after a consonant, such as profesor/profesora and escritor/escritora.

Forms ending in -ista and several ending in -e do not change: el periodista / la periodista, el dentista / la dentista, el estudiante / la estudiante. The article or context identifies the person.

After ser, an unmodified profession usually has no article: Soy ingeniera; Él es fotógrafo. Add an article when the noun is identified or described: Es una médica excelente; Es el cocinero del hotel.

Four patterns that make profession vocabulary easier

Paired endings: profesor/profesora, médico/médica, actor/actriz.

One form for different genders: periodista, estudiante, dentista, cantante, artista.

Zero article after ser for a plain profession: Soy abogada. Use an article when adding description or identifying someone.

Recognise alternatives without treating one as wrong: camarero/mesero and fontanero/plomero vary by region; conductor and chofer are synonyms.

40 common jobs and professions in Spanish

The list moves from education and health to services, trades, public work, creative roles and digital careers.

Learn professions in four workplace groups

Group people by where and how they work instead of memorising one alphabetical list.

How should you practise Spanish job vocabulary?

Start with a full identification sentence: Soy estudiante; Mi hermana es médica; Carlos trabaja como fotógrafo. This makes the zero-article pattern automatic.

For every changing noun, keep both forms on one card. For common-gender nouns such as periodista or dentista, practise switching only the article.

Choose one regional term for active use and keep the alternative for recognition. Then attach one workplace or action: trabaja en un hospital, cocina en un restaurante, diseña una aplicación.

Hola Cards is a Spanish flashcard app from holacards.org for iOS and Android. It is free to download, requires no account, has no ads, and works offline. The interface is available in English, Russian, and Portuguese; cards support translations in 28 languages and 18 practice and game modes. You can import these 40 fixed entries into a custom group and practise them with Spanish audio, writing, pronunciation, and review modes. Hola Cards does not infer a person’s gender or choose a regional job title automatically, so keep the paired forms and regional notes on the cards you use.

Connect profession names with introductions, articles, noun gender, adjective agreement and beginner vocabulary.

Spanish greetings and introductions / Definite and indefinite articles / Spanish noun gender rules / Spanish adjective agreement / 100 common Spanish words

A five-minute profession routine

1. Name five people you know by profession.
2. Switch five masculine forms to feminine forms.
3. Make three sentences with common-gender nouns.
4. Contrast Soy médico with Es un médico excelente.
5. Write one workplace or action for eight profession cards, then listen again.

Vocabulary and grammar references

The A1 profession set, gender patterns, article use and selected regional forms were checked against primary Instituto Cervantes and RAE–ASALE sources.

• Instituto Cervantes A1 activity: professions, gender and personal information
• Instituto Cervantes A1–A2 inventory: work, services and occupations
• RAE–ASALE dictionary: periodista
• RAE–ASALE dictionary: policía
• RAE–ASALE dictionary: camarero, camarera
• RAE–ASALE dictionary: mesero, mesera
• RAE–ASALE dictionary: plomero
• RAE–ASALE dictionary: chofer and conductor
• RAE–ASALE dictionary: dependiente and vendedor

**Spanish jobs and professions: 40 words**

el profesor / la profesora - teacher
el médico / la médica - doctor; physician
el enfermero / la enfermera - nurse
el abogado / la abogada - lawyer
el ingeniero / la ingeniera - engineer
el arquitecto / la arquitecta - architect
el periodista / la periodista - journalist
el estudiante / la estudiante - student
el dentista / la dentista - dentist
el psicólogo / la psicóloga - psychologist
el veterinario / la veterinaria - veterinarian
el farmacéutico / la farmacéutica - pharmacist
el cocinero / la cocinera - cook; chef
el camarero / la camarera; el mesero / la mesera - waiter; server
el dependiente / la dependienta; el vendedor / la vendedora - shop assistant; salesperson
el recepcionista / la recepcionista - receptionist
el peluquero / la peluquera - hairdresser
el limpiador / la limpiadora - cleaner
el contable / la contable - accountant
el gerente / la gerente - manager
el conductor / la conductora; el chofer / la chofer - driver
el policía / la policía - police officer
el bombero / la bombera - firefighter
el mecánico / la mecánica - mechanic
el electricista / la electricista - electrician
el fontanero / la fontanera; el plomero / la plomera - plumber
el carpintero / la carpintera - carpenter
el albañil / la albañil - bricklayer; construction worker
el agricultor / la agricultora - farmer; agricultural worker
el empresario / la empresaria - business owner; entrepreneur
el actor / la actriz - actor; actress
el cantante / la cantante - singer
el músico / la música - musician
el escritor / la escritora - writer
el artista / la artista - artist
el fotógrafo / la fotógrafa - photographer
el diseñador / la diseñadora - designer
el programador / la programadora - programmer; software developer
el científico / la científica - scientist
el investigador / la investigadora - researcher