Lanbideak — Professions (extended)

This lesson extends the professions you already saw in the personal description unit. Here you have a larger repertoire, focusing on the ones that come up in stories and everyday conversations about neighbours.

Quick review

Basque	English
ikaslea	student
irakaslea	teacher
medikua	doctor
langilea	worker
jubilatua	retired person
langabea	out of work

Extension

Basque	English
erizaina	nurse
sukaldaria	cook
kazetaria	journalist
idazlea	writer
abokatua	lawyer
arkitektoa	architect
polizia	police officer
suhiltzailea	firefighter
dendaria	shop assistant
zerbitzaria	waiter/waitress
mekanikaria	mechanic
igeltseroa	bricklayer
nekazaria	farmer
arrantzalea	fisherman/fisherwoman
gidaria	driver
administrazioko langilea	administration worker

Suffixes that reveal the profession

If you look closely, many professions carry typical suffixes:

• -ari / -lari → “the one who works at…”: kazetari, dantzari, mekanikari, sukaldari.
• -le → “the one who does…”: irakasle, idazle, ikasle, arrantzale.
• -zain / -zai → “guardian of…”: erizain (carer of the sick = nurse), atezaina (doorkeeper/goalkeeper).
• -tzaile → a productive form: saltzailea (seller), suhiltzailea (firefighter).

Learning to spot these suffixes helps you guess new professions without a dictionary.

”To be an X by profession”

You already know the pattern from the first units:

• Ni medikua naiz. — I am a doctor.
• Bera kazetaria da. — He/she is a journalist.
• Gu ikasleak gara. — We are students.

Important: to name a profession in general, it takes the article -a: medikua, kazetaria. (In speech you will also hear mediku naiz, without the article; both forms are valid, but in this course we use the form with -a.)

Asking about someone’s profession

Question	English
Zer da zure lanbidea?	What is your profession?
Zertan egiten duzu lan?	What do you do for work?
Non egiten duzu lan?	Where do you work?
Zer da bere lana?	What is his/her job?

And to answer about yourself or about someone else:

• Ikaslea naiz, baina dendari moduan ere lan egiten dut. — I am a student, but I also work as a shop assistant.
• Bera erizaina da, ospitalean lan egiten du. — He/she is a nurse, he/she works at the hospital.

Note: in Basque, saying “I am a male nurse” or “I am a female nurse” is the same: erizaina naiz. There are no gender markings on nouns. You make it clear with the context or with the person’s name.