How to Talk About Your Occupation

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can Do Polish by PolishPod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about your occupation in Polish..

For example, "I’m an investor." is

Jestem inwestorem.

Two passengers, Karolina Kowalski and Maciej Mazur , are seated next to each other on a plane to Poland.

Before you hear their conversation, let's preview some of its key components.

Student.

"student"

Student.

Inwestor.

"investor"

Inwestor.

Listen to the conversation, and focus on Maciej’s response.

Note: the speakers in this conversation use formal Polish.

Ready?

Jest pan studentem?

Nie, nie jestem studentem. Jestem inwestorem.

Once more with the English translation.

Jest pan studentem?

"Are you a student?"

Nie, nie jestem studentem. Jestem inwestorem.

"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Karolina asks,

"Are you a student?"

Jest pan studentem?

First is jest, "are." Jest. Jest.

Jest is from the verb być meaning "to be." Być.

Next is pan, "Mr." which replaces "you" when using formal Polish. Pan. Pan.

Note, in Polish, the honorific Mr. or Mrs. is used to create the polite form.

The formal title is determined by the gender of the conversation partner. If the partner is female, the title would be pani.

Next is studentem, "student." Studentem. Studentem.

In Polish, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Student is masculine singular. Studentem is the noun student declined in the instrumental case.

All together, Jest pan studentem? Literally "Is Mr. a student?" but it translates as "Are you a student?"

Jest pan studentem?

Now, let's take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how Maciej says,

"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."

Nie, nie jestem studentem. Jestem inwestorem.

First is the expression, nie, meaning, "no." Nie. Nie.

It answers Karolina 's yes-or-no question, "Are you a student?" Jest pan studentem?

After this, Maciej specifies that he’s not a student. Nie jestem studentem. "I'm not a student." Nie jestem studentem.

First is nie, "not." Nie. Nie.

Next is jestem. "I am." Jestem. Jestem.

Note: here jestem is a shortened form of ja jestem, "I am." In Polish, ja, "I", is usually omitted, as it’s understood from context.

Jestem is from the verb być, meaning "to be." Być.

Together, it's nie jestem, literally "Not I am," but it translates as "I'm not." Nie jestem.

Next is Studentem. "Student." Studentem.

All together, Nie jestem studentem. "I'm not a student." Nie jestem studentem.

Maciej then tells Karolina his actual occupation. Jestem inwestorem. "I'm an investor." Jestem inwestorem.

First, jestem " am." Jestem.

After this is Inwestorem, "investor [male]." Inwestorem. Inwestorem.

Inwestorem is from the noun, inwestor, "investor." Inwestor. Notice how the ending changes. Inwestor becomes inwestorem in this sentence. Inwestorem is used in this case because it follows jestem.

The grammatical term here is the instrumental case.

In Polish, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural.

Inwestor is a masculine singular noun.

Together, Jestem inwestorem. "I'm an investor." Jestem inwestorem.

All together, Nie, nie jestem studentem. Jestem inwestorem.

"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."

Nie, nie jestem studentem. Jestem inwestorem.

The pattern is

Nie, nie jestem OCCUPATION. Jestem ACTUAL OCCUPATION.

"No, I'm not OCCUPATION. I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION."

Nie, nie jestem OCCUPATION. Jestem ACTUAL OCCUPATION.

To use this pattern, simply replace the {OCCUPATION} and {ACTUAL OCCUPATION} placeholders with the occupations that are appropriate to the conversation.

Note: This pattern requires nouns in the instrumental case. In most cases, the noun used to describe the occupations will depend on the gender of the speaker. For example, student would be used by a male student and studentka would be used by a female student.

Imagine you’re Emma Englot , a student. The word for a female student is studentka. Studentka. Studentka.

Maciej Mazur asks you if you’re a teacher, nauczyciel. Nauczyciel. Nauczyciel.

The word for a female teacher is nauczycielka. Nauczycielka. Nauczycielka

To form the instrumental case for feminine singular nouns ending in -a, replace it with -ą.

Studentka becomes studentką, and

nauczycielka becomes nauczycielką.

Say

"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student."

Ready?

Nie, nie jestem nauczycielką. Jestem studentką.

"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student."

Nie, nie jestem nauczycielką. Jestem studentką.

In Polish, many of the occupation nouns differ depending on gender.

For example, nauczycielka is feminine, and nauczyciel is masculine.

nauczycielka,

nauczyciel.

In Polish, there are some rules of thumb for the gender of nouns.

Nouns that end in a consonant in their dictionary form usually tend to be masculine.

Nauczyciel. "Teacher [male]."

Student. "Student [male]."

While nouns that end in -a are feminine.

Nauczycielka. "Teacher [female]."

Studentka. "Student [female]."

When talking about your occupation, the noun must be placed in the instrumental.

There are some simple rules that will help you create the instrumental case based on the ending of the noun. You’ll learn a few in this lesson.

In general, masculine singular nouns in the instrumental tend to end with -em.

Inżynier, "engineer" becomes inżynierem.

Inwestor, "investor" becomes inwestorem.

For all feminine nouns ending in an -a simply replace the ending with an -ą.

Nauczycielka, "teacher" becomes nauczycielką.

Lekarka, "doctor" becomes lekarką.

Again, the key pattern is

Nie, nie jestem OCCUPATION. Jestem ACTUAL OCCUPATION.

"No, I'm not OCCUPATION. I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION."

Nie, nie jestem OCCUPATION. Jestem ACTUAL OCCUPATION.

Let’s look at some more examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

Nie, nie jestem studentem. Jestem inwestorem.

"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."

Nie, nie jestem studentem. Jestem inwestorem.

Nie, nie jestem nauczycielką. Jestem studentką.

"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student."

Nie, nie jestem nauczycielką. Jestem studentką.

Nie, nie jestem lekarką. Jestem naukowcem.

"No, I'm not a doctor. I'm a scientist."

Nie, nie jestem lekarką. Jestem naukowcem.

Nie, nie jestem pielęgniarką. Jestem lekarką.

"No, I'm not a nurse. I'm a doctor."

Nie, nie jestem pielęgniarką. Jestem lekarką.

Nie, nie jestem studentką. Jestem nauczycielką.

"I'm not a student. I'm a teacher."

Nie, nie jestem studentką. Jestem nauczycielką.

Nie, jestem baristką.

"No, I'm a barista."

Nie, jestem baristką.

Did you notice how the last speaker omits part of the response?

Nie, jestem baristką. "No, I’m a barista." Nie, jestem baristką.

When directly responding to someone's question, it’s often possible to omit part of the response.

Here by simply answering Nie, "no," there’s no need to say nie jestem studentką, "I’m not a student."

This pattern is

Nie, jestem ACTUAL OCCUPATION.

"No, I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION."

You should be aware of this pattern, but for this lesson, we'll use the pattern

Nie, nie jestem OCCUPATION. Jestem ACTUAL OCCUPATION.

"No, I'm not OCCUPATION. I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION."

Let's review the key vocabulary.

In Polish, occupation terms can vary based on gender. In these cases, we provide the masculine word for the occupation followed by the feminine one.

"student"

student. student.

studentka. studentka.

"teacher"

nauczyciel. nauczyciel.

nauczycielka. nauczycielka.

"nurse"

pielęgniarz. pielęgniarz.

pielęgniarka. pielęgniarka.

"doctor"

lekarz. lekarz.

lekarka. lekarka.

"barista"

barista. barista.

baristka. baristka.

"scientist"

naukowiec. naukowiec.

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember the word for a male "investor?"

Inwestor.

And how Maciej says,

"I'm an investor."

Jestem inwestorem.

Do you remember the word for a male "student?"

Student.

And how to say "not?"

Nie.

Do you remember how Maciej says,

"I'm not a student."

Nie jestem studentem.

Do you remember how Maciej Mazur says,

"I'm not a student. I'm an investor."

Nie jestem studentem. Jestem inwestorem.

Do you remember how Karolina Kowalski asks,

"Are you a student?"

Remember Karolina uses formal Polish.

Jest pan studentem?

Do you remember the word for a female "doctor?"

lekarka.

And the word for "scientist?"

naukowiec

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Karolina Kowalski , and you’re a scientist, or naukowiec in Polish.

Respond to Maciej’s question.

Ready?

Jest pani lekarką?

Nie, nie jestem lekarką. Jestem naukowcem.

Listen again and repeat.

Nie, nie jestem lekarką. Jestem naukowcem.

Let's try another.

Imagine you're Alicja Nowak , and you’re a teacher, or nauczycielka in Polish.

Ready?

Jesteś studentką?

Nie, nie jestem studentką. Jestem nauczycielką.

Listen again and repeat.

Nie, nie jestem studentką. Jestem nauczycielką.

Let's try one more.

Now, imagine you're Emma Englot , and you’re a student.

Ready?

Jest pani nauczycielką?

Nie, jestem studentką.

Listen again and repeat.

Nie, jestem studentką.

You may have noticed Maciej Mazur says, Jesteś studentem? This is the informal form of Jest pan studentem?

In this lesson, you learned how to talk about your occupation in Polish. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of introducing yourself. Let’s review.

Do you remember how Karolina Kowalski says,

"I'm Karolina Kowalski"

Jestem Karolina Kowalski.

And do you remember how Karolina Kowalski says

"I'm Karolina Kowalski. Nice to meet you."

Jestem Karolina Kowalski. Miło mi.

And how to say "from?"

Do you remember how Karolina says,

"I'm from Miami."

Jestem z Miami.

Do you remember how to say "from where?"

Skąd.

And the formal word for "you ?"

Pani.

And do you remember how Maciej Mazur asks,

"Where are you from?"

Literally, "From where Ms. is?"

Skąd pani jest?

Do you remember how to say "American" woman, when it follows jestem?

Amerykanką.

And do you remember how Karolina Kowalski says

"Yes, I'm American."?

Tak, jestem Amerykanką.

Do you remember how Mr. Mazur asks,

"Are you American?"

Czy pani jest Amerykanką?

Imagine you're Jack Jones , a student from London, and you're English.

Do you remember how to pronounce "Jack Jones" in Polish?

Jack Jones

Respond to Maciej Mazur 's self-introduction and follow-up question…

Ready?

Nazywam się Maciej Mazur. A Pan?

Jestem Jack Jones. Miło mi.

Listen again and repeat.

Jestem Jack Jones. Miło mi.

Do you remember how to say "London" in Polish?

Londynu.

Now respond that you’re from London.

Skąd pan jest?

Jestem z Londynu.

Listen again and repeat.

Jestem z Londynu.

And do you remember how to say "English" in Polish?

Anglikiem.

Now respond that you’re English.

Jest pan Anglikiem?

Tak, jestem Anglikiem.

Listen again and repeat.

Tak, jestem Anglikiem.

Now, do you remember how to say "student" in Polish?

Student.

Respond that you're a student.

Jest pan nauczycielem?

Nie, nie jestem nauczycielem. Jestem studentem.

Listen again and repeat.

Nie, nie jestem nauczycielem. Jestem studentem.

Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Introduce Yourself unit of this course.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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