Using “un” or “una” before your profession

Transcript of the video lesson:

Hi, this is Joel from WorldSpanishTeacher.com. Today I want to talk about a common mistake that a lot of Spanish students make and it’s actually something that I did myself too.

So, when we’re telling our job, or our career, our profession… in English we use the word “a” or “an.” So I would say, ‘I’m a doctor. I’m a lawyer. I’m a dentist.” So we tend to want to translate that directly from English to Spanish. So when we say it in Spanish, we say “Soy un abogado. Soy un médico.” But that’s not right.

Nine out of ten times when you’re talking about your career, your profession, or somebody else’s, you are not gonna use the word “un” or “una.’ So it’s different than the way we say it in English.

So in Spanish, the better way would be to say, “Soy medico. Soy abogado. Soy dentista.” So you don’t need the word “un” in there – so leave it out. Or, “Ella es abogada. Ella es médica.” So you don’t need it. So hopefully this was helpful for you and that you can use this tip to sound more natural when you’re speaking in Spanish.

Remember, check out my website worldspanishteacher.com for more lessons. Alright, thanks for watching.

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