Occupations in German
One of the first questions that people ask when they meet someone new in a social context is what they do for a living. So if you plan to have conversations with people in German, then you will need to brush up on your vocabulary of occupations in German.
In German all occupations have a feminine and a masculine form. In most cases the feminine form ends in –in and sometimes features “Umlaute” as well. “Umlaute” are the little dots above the “ä”, “ö” or “ü”.
Let's check out this lesson on occupations in German...
Resources for further reading:
How to pronounce occupations in German
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der Kellner (m)
waiter (m)
die Kellnerin (f)
waitress (f)
der Gärtner (m)
gardener (m)
die Gärtnerin (f)
gardener (f)
der Arzt (m)
doctor (m)
die Ärztin (f)
doctor (f)
der Lehrer (m)
teacher (m)
die Lehrerin (f)
teacher (f)
der Koch (m)
cook (m)
die Köchin (f)
cook (f)
der Designer (m)
designer (m)
die Designerin (f)
designer (f)
der Architekt (m)
architect (m)
die Architektin (f)
architect (f)
der Ingenieur (m)
engineer (m)
die Ingenieurin (f)
engineer (f)
der Autor (m)
author (m)
die Autorin (f)
author (f)
der Verkäufer (m)
sales assistant (m)
die Verkäuferin (f)
sales assistant (f)
der Übersetzer (m)
translator (m)
die Übersetzerin (f)
translator (f)
der Musiker (m)
musician (m)
die Musikerin (f)
musician (f)
However, there are some exceptions, for example:
der Angestellte (m)
employee (m)
die Angestellte (f)
employee (f)
der Krankenpfleger (m)
nurse (m)
die Krankenschwester (f)
nurse (f)
der Vorgesetzter (m)
superior (m)
die Vorgesetzte (f)
superior (f)
der Friseur (m)
hairdresser (m)
die Friseuse (f)
hairdresser (f)
As you can see you don’t need to include an article, like “a” or “an”, in German, when talking about your occupation, whereas in English you do.
For example:
Ich bin Übersetzerin
I'm a translator
Er ist Architekt
He is an architect
Sie ist Ärztin
She is a doctor
Du bist ein Lehrer
You are a teacher
Here are a few recommended German lessons to try next!
- Wanting to exchange money at the local bank in German? You'll need this lesson.
- Looking for the post office in German.
- To be in German.
Bis bald!
Paul Weber: Rocket German
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