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Illustration for “What do you do for work?”

Spanish dialogue with translation · A1 · 14 lines

¿En qué trabajas? What do you do for work?

Comic · 13 panels

Panel 1 of 13 for “What do you do for work?”: “Hi, I'm Carmen. Are you a friend of Ana's? (to a man)” “Yes, I'm Pablo. Nice to meet you. What do you do for work?”
  1. Carmen

    Hola, soy Carmen. ¿Tú eres amigo de Ana?

    Hi, I'm Carmen. Are you a friend of Ana's? (to a man)

  2. Pablo

    Sí, soy Pablo. Mucho gusto. ¿En qué trabajas?

    Yes, I'm Pablo. Nice to meet you. What do you do for work?

Panel 2 of 13 for “What do you do for work?”: “I'm a lawyer. I work at a big company downtown (woman speaking).”
  1. Carmen

    Soy abogada. Trabajo en una empresa grande del centro.

    I'm a lawyer. I work at a big company downtown (woman speaking).

Panel 3 of 13 for “What do you do for work?”: “Very good! I'm an engineer, but I work in a small office (man speaking).”
  1. Pablo

    ¡Muy bien! Yo soy ingeniero, pero trabajo en una oficina pequeña.

    Very good! I'm an engineer, but I work in a small office (man speaking).

Panel 4 of 13 for “What do you do for work?”: “Do you like your job? Do you have a good boss?”
  1. Carmen

    ¿Te gusta tu trabajo? ¿Tienes un buen jefe?

    Do you like your job? Do you have a good boss?

Panel 5 of 13 for “What do you do for work?”: “Yes, my boss is very good, and my coworkers are too. We have a meeting every Monday.”
  1. Pablo

    Sí, mi jefe es muy bueno, y mis compañeros también. Tenemos una reunión cada lunes.

    Yes, my boss is very good, and my coworkers are too. We have a meeting every Monday.

Panel 6 of 13 for “What do you do for work?”: “My brother is a programmer, and he's taking an English course at home.”
  1. Carmen

    Mi hermano es programador y hace un curso de inglés en casa.

    My brother is a programmer, and he's taking an English course at home.

Panel 7 of 13 for “What do you do for work?”: “And you? Are you studying anything now?”
  1. Pablo

    ¿Y tú? ¿Estudias algo ahora?

    And you? Are you studying anything now?

Panel 8 of 13 for “What do you do for work?”: “Yes, I'm learning English at the university. I have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
  1. Carmen

    Sí, aprendo inglés en la universidad. Tengo clase los martes y los jueves.

    Yes, I'm learning English at the university. I have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Panel 9 of 13 for “What do you do for work?”: “Is it difficult? I read and write in English, but I don't speak it well.”
  1. Pablo

    ¿Es difícil? Yo leo y escribo en inglés, pero no hablo bien.

    Is it difficult? I read and write in English, but I don't speak it well.

Panel 10 of 13 for “What do you do for work?”: “Reading is easy, but speaking is hard. I have an exam on Friday.”
  1. Carmen

    Leer es fácil, pero hablar es difícil. Tengo un examen el viernes.

    Reading is easy, but speaking is hard. I have an exam on Friday.

Panel 11 of 13 for “What do you do for work?”: “Good luck. Do you repeat the new words every day?”
  1. Pablo

    Mucha suerte. ¿Repites las palabras nuevas todos los días?

    Good luck. Do you repeat the new words every day?

Panel 12 of 13 for “What do you do for work?”: “Yes, and I write each word in my book with my favorite pen.”
  1. Carmen

    Sí, y escribo cada palabra en mi libro con mi bolígrafo favorito.

    Yes, and I write each word in my book with my favorite pen.

Panel 13 of 13 for “What do you do for work?”: “Great! I want to learn more too.”
  1. Pablo

    ¡Qué bien! Yo también quiero aprender más.

    Great! I want to learn more too.

Grammar for this text

Jobs without an article. After ser, Spanish names a job with no un / una, unlike English "a": soy abogada — I'm a lawyer; yo soy ingeniero — I'm an engineer; mi hermano es programador — my brother is a programmer. Carmen is a woman, so she says abogada, with -a at the end.

¿En qué trabajas? Word for word "in what do you work?" This is how Spanish asks "What do you do for work?" The answer is a job or a place: trabajo en una empresa grande del centro.

The yo and tú endings. trabajo, aprendo, yo leo y escribo: the yo form of most verbs ends in -o, whether they end in -ar, -er or -ir (a few common verbs break this rule: soy, estoy, voy). The tú form ends in -as for -ar verbs (trabajas, ¿estudias algo ahora?) and in -es for -er and -ir verbs (¿repites las palabras nuevas…?). Repites (from repetir) also changes its stem: e → i.

Hace un curso. Word for word "does a course", meaning "is taking a course". Hace is a form of the irregular verb hacer (to do, to make).

The infinitive as a subject. leer es fácil, pero hablar es difícil — "reading is easy, but speaking is hard". Where English often uses -ing, Spanish uses the infinitive. After quiero, the infinitive follows too, like English "want to": quiero aprender más — I want to learn more.

Un buen jefe. Bueno drops its -o before a masculine noun: un buen jefe. After the noun or after ser, it's the full word: mi jefe es muy bueno.

When. cada lunes — every Monday; los martes y los jueves — on Tuesdays and Thursdays; el viernes — on Friday. Spanish needs no word for "on" here: the article does the job.

Words and grammar of the unit: Talk about your work and studies.

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