Jobs in French: vocabulary list, feminine forms and a classroom routine

Jobs in French with their feminine form

In the pronunciation column, capitals mark the syllable to lean on slightly (French stress is light and falls on the last syllable). (n) marks a nasal vowel: air goes through the nose and the n itself is not pronounced. “zh” is the s in “measure”, “uh” is the short vowel in “the”, and “ü” is “ee” said with rounded lips.

One form, two articles

Masculine and feminine forms

How the feminine works

In 2019 the Académie française accepted the feminisation of job titles, which Quebec, Belgium and Switzerland had adopted years before. Today the feminine form is the normal choice in France too.

1. -e at the end: only the article changes. le journaliste, la journaliste. La médecin follows the same pattern, although une femme médecin is still heard.
2. -ier and -er become -ière and -ère. l’infirmier, l’infirmière; le boulanger, la boulangère. You now hear the r: MYAY becomes MYAIR. La pompière is used alongside the older une femme pompier.
3. -eur becomes -euse when there is a related verb. vendre gives la vendeuse, chanter gives la chanteuse.
4. -teur often becomes -trice. l’acteur, l’actrice; le directeur, la directrice.
5. Other -eur words add -e. la professeure, l’ingénieure: the spelling changes, the sound does not.
6. -ien doubles the n. le mécanicien, la mécanicienne. The nasal disappears: SYA(N) becomes SYEN.

Some feminines have a second meaning. La cuisinière is a cook, and also a cooker. La chef and, especially in Switzerland, la cheffe are both used for a woman in charge.

Talking about jobs

The key rule for English speakers: after je suis, il est or elle est, a job takes no article. “She’s a nurse” is Elle est infirmière. With c’est, it needs one: C’est une infirmière.

Qu’est-ce que tu fais dans la vie ?What do you do?

Ma mère est pharmacienne.My mum is a pharmacist.

Mon père travaille comme serveur dans un restaurant.My dad works as a waiter in a restaurant.

C’est un acteur très célèbre.He’s a very famous actor.

Plus tard, je voudrais être vétérinaire parce que j’adore les animaux.Later on, I’d like to be a vet because I love animals.

Quand je serai grande, je serai ingénieure.When I grow up, I’ll be an engineer.

Places of work: dans un bureau, dans un magasin, dans un hôpital, à l’extérieur (outdoors), à la maison. Someone out of work is au chômage.

Idioms and sayings

C’est en forgeant qu’on devient forgeron makes a good classroom motto for speaking practice.

Typical mistakes of English-speaking learners

• “Elle est une infirmière”: no article after elle est: Elle est infirmière, or C’est une infirmière.
• Masculine forms for women: Ma tante est vendeur should be vendeuse.
• Physicien is not physician: it means physicist. A doctor is un médecin.
• Libraire is not librarian: it means bookseller. A librarian is un bibliothécaire.
• Sounding silent letters: the t of avocat, the p of comptable, the r of boulanger and policier.
• Médecin said like “medicine”: it has two syllables, mayd-SA(N).

In class: jobs as a word of the day

Jobs lead naturally to family, ambitions and the future tense, and every word comes in two forms.

1. Show the picture (a nurse) and the English word: “nurse”.
2. Ask Comment dit-on “nurse” en français ? Pupils write their guess on mini whiteboards; accept either form.
3. Reveal l’infirmier / l’infirmière with its pronunciation. The class repeats both forms, listening for the r in the feminine.
4. Show the example sentence: Ma tante est infirmière. Elle travaille la nuit dans un hôpital.
5. Give the reuse task: each pupil says what someone they know does, or wants to do, without the article: Mon cousin veut être policier.
6. Recall yesterday’s job and ask for the other form: Et au féminin ?

That is exactly what a daily routine does: one job at a time, in both forms, used in a real sentence straight away.

Guessing games

Qui suis-je ? riddles: Je commence très tôt le matin et je fais du pain. Qui suis-je ? (le boulanger / la boulangère). Pupils then write their own riddle with je travaille, je porte and j’aide.

• A1The job with both forms: le facteur, la factrice
• A2Family and places of work: Mon père est cuisinier. Il travaille dans un restaurant.
• B1Future plans and reasons: Plus tard, j’aimerais devenir avocate parce que je veux défendre les gens.
• B2Opinions on work: Il faut qu’un métier soit utile, même s’il est moins bien payé.

At KS2, a picture and both forms are enough. At KS3, insist on the missing article after être and on feminine endings. At GCSE, jobs return with future plans: move on to the conditional, the future tense and reasons.

Frequently asked questions