Hola y bienvenidos a la clase de español.

Hoy vamos a hablar de ocupaciones y nacionalidades.   Today we’ll talk about occupations and nationalities.

 

Nationalities and Discussing Nationality

 

This list includes Spain and the Latin American countries.

List of Nationalities in Spanish

Country	Nationality – Male	Nationality – Female
Argentina	Argentino	Argentina
Bolivia	Boliviano	Boliviana
Brazil	Brasileño	Brasileño
Chile	Chileno	Chilena
Colombia	Colombiano	Colombiana
Costa Rica	Costarricense	Costarricense
Cuba	Cubano	Cubana
Ecuador	Ecuatoriano	Ecuatoriana
El Salvador	Salvadoreño	Salvadoreña
Guatemala	Guatemalteco	Guatemalteca
Hoduras	Hondureño	Hondureña
México	Mexicano	Mexicana
Nicaragua	Nicaragüense	Nicaragüense
Panamá	Panameño	Panameña
Paraguay	Paraguayo	Paraguaya
Perú	Peruano	Peruana
Puerto Rico	Puertorriqueño	Puertorriqueña
Republica Dominicana	Dominicano	Dominicana
Spain (España)	Español	Española
Uruguay	Uruguayo	Uruguaya
Venezuela	Venezolano	Venezolana

 

A few other countries..

Country	Nationality – Male	Nationality – Female
Britain	Británico	Británica
Canada	Canadiense	Canadiense
China	Chino	China
France	Francés	Francesa
United States	Estadounidense	Estadounidense

 

How to ask and answer about Nationality

¿De dónde eres?	Where are you from? (informal)
¿De dónde es ud.?	Where are you from? (formal)
¿Cuál es tu nacionalidad?	What is your nationality? (informal)
¿Cuál es su nacionalidad?	What is your nationality? (formal)
Soy de Bolivia	I am from Bolivia
Soy boliviano/ a	I am Bolivian

 

 

Gender of Nouns 

In Spanish, nouns are considered to be either masculine or feminine. Often, when a noun ends in “o” it is masculine and, when it ends in “a”, it is feminine.  But this is a very loose generalisation and there are MANY exceptions.
A nationality is considered an adjective, describing a person.  Adjectives agree with nouns in gender and number. (We’ll go more into that in a future lesson)

 

Since nationalities are adjectives, they must change to agree with the person(s) being described.

Ejemplos:

Eduardo es colombiano.

Carla es colombiana.

Eduaro y Carla son colombianos.

Note: In Spanish the nationality is written with a common letter when it is NOT at the start of a new sentence.

 

Practice:

In Spanish, say “My name is (name). I am (nationality)”

Me llamo… Soy….

Remember to adjust the nationality according to your chosen gender.

 

Las Profesiones

Remember in Spanish, nouns are either masculine or feminine. When giving your profession, you must either use the masculine or feminine form depending on your gender.

 

List of Occupations in Spanish

Profession	Male	Female
Actor	El actor	La actriz
Artist	El artista	La artista
Business(wo)man	El Hombre de negocios	La Mujer de negocios
Chef	El chef/ jefe de cocina	La chef/ jefa de cocina
Doctor	El médico	La médica
Engineer	El ingeniero	La ingeniera
Fire(wo)man	El bombero	La bombera
Journalist	El periodista	La periodista
Lawyer	El abogado	La abogada
Librarian	El bibilotecario	La bibilotecaria
Manager	El gerente	La gerente
Nurse	El enfermero	La enfermera
Plumber	El plomero	La plomera
Police	El policía	La policía
Scientist	El científico	La científica
Secretary	El secretario	La secretaria
Singer	El cantante	La cantante
Student	El estudiante / El alumno	La estudiante / La alumna
Waiter	El mesero / camarero	La mesera / camarera
Writer	El escritor	La escritora

 

Note: some of the professions (example cantante and policía) use the same word for both the male and female forms.  The definite article (el/ la) indicates the gender of the person.

When asked ¿Cuál es tu profesión? or ¿Cuál es tu ocupación?

You should respond

Soy profesor (male)

I am a teacher

Soy profesora (female)

 

Note: Even though in English we say “I am a teacher”, in Spanish the “a” is not used.

Soy un carpintero. X

Soy carpintero. √  (I am a carpenter)

It is incorrect to say “Soy un carpintero”

 

 

Practice Exercise with Worksheet

I’ve included a worksheet for you to practice the vocabulary and grammar learnt over the last few lessons.  You already learnt how to give your age and birth date.  Today you learnt how to say your profession and nationality.  Download the worksheet and put your knowledge into practice!

Spanish Exercise: ID Card Fill in the Blanks

Leave a note in the comments to let me know how you did.

 

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