Professions & Fields of Employment

Stating a Profession

When a profession is used after the verb être, no article is placed before the noun. This rule was introduced in personal biographies. The present lesson expands the range of professions and explains the formation of their feminine forms.

Common Professions

Formation of the Feminine

The feminine of a profession is most often derived from the masculine form by applying one of the following patterns:

- Addition of -e: avocat → avocate
- Change of -ien to -ienne: informaticien → informaticienne
- Change of -eur to -euse: vendeur → vendeuse
- Invariable forms: médecin, journaliste (the form doctoresse exists but is rarely used)

Modern written French increasingly uses explicitly feminine suffixes such as professeure and ingénieure; both the traditional and the newer forms are acceptable.

Workplaces

A profession is often combined with a location introduced by travailler dans (to work in) or travailler à (to work at).

- Je travaille dans un hôpital. (I work in a hospital.)
- Je travaille dans un restaurant.
- Je travaille dans un bureau.
- Je travaille dans une école.
- Je travaille à la maison. (I work at home.)