Les professions

French	English
Un acteur	An actor
Un artiste	An artist
Un avocat	A lawyer
Un banquier	A banker
Un boucher	A butcher
Un boulanger	A baker (bread)
Un buraliste	A tobacconist
Un caissier	A cashier
Un chauffeur	A driver
Un chercheur	A researcher
Un coiffeur	A hairdresser
Un comptable	An accountant
Un conducteur	A driver
Un docteur	A doctor
Un écrivain	A writer
Un employé	An employee
Un employeur	An employer
Un infirmier	A nurse
Un ingénieur	An engineer
Un jardinier	A gardener
Un journaliste	A reporter/a journalist
Un maître	A primary school teacher
Un marin	A sailor
Un militaire	A soldier
Un pâtissier	A baker (cake)
Un photographe	A photographer
Un pilote	A pilot
Un poissonnier	A fishmonger
Un policier	A policeman
Un professeur	A professor
Un scientifique	A scientist
Un serveur	A waiter
Un vendeur	A shopkeeper
Un vétérinaire	A veterinary
Un médecin	A doctor

Masculine and feminine

The rules

All the jobs are presented in their masculine singular form. To have the feminine, simply use the rules seen previously and do not forget to change your article for its feminine version. Remember there are always very irregular nouns.

 

The irregular ones

Not every profession exists in the feminine form. Some profession cannot be turned into feminine, and the article used cannot be feminine even if you are referring to a woman. In this list, “un docteur,” “un médecin,” and “un marin” will follow this rule. The French Academy recommends using “une femme médecin” or “une femme marin” if you need the feminine.

 

The evolution of the language

The French Academy accepted the use of a feminine version for some professions previously strictly masculine. However, they have not ruled on the spelling of these words. As a result, you can now for example use “une docteure” (a doctor), “une professeure,” or “une professeuse,” (a professor) or “une auteure”, “une autrice,” “une écrivaine” (an author) or even “une cheffe,” “une chef” or “une chèfe” (a chef). Some of these forms are not commonly used in the language and the French Academy does not exclude the use of the masculine form to refer to a woman for those professions.

Using professions in a sentence

The indefinite articles are not used in front of a profession in French when the verb in your sentences is “être” (to be). This will be seen in more details later in this book.

For example:
Je suis avocat(e) → I am a lawyer.