Làm nghề gì? — Talking about occupations

What you will learn

This lesson teaches how to ask and talk about occupation. It also prevents a common confusion: làm nghề gì? asks about profession, while đang làm gì? usually asks what someone is doing right now.

1. Anh/chị làm nghề gì?

• Anh làm nghề gì? — What do you do for a living?
• Chị làm nghề gì?
• Bạn làm nghề gì?

Nghề refers to occupation/trade/profession.

2. Saying an occupation with là

• Tôi là giáo viên. — I am a teacher.
• Anh ấy là bác sĩ. — He is a doctor.
• Chị ấy là kỹ sư. — She is an engineer.

Here là is natural because you are identifying/classifying the person by occupation.

3. You can also answer with làm

• Tôi làm giáo viên.
• Anh làm kỹ sư.
• Chị làm kế toán.

4. Common occupations

• giáo viên — teacher
• bác sĩ — doctor
• điều dưỡng — nurse
• kỹ sư — engineer
• kế toán — accountant/accounting
• nhân viên văn phòng — office worker
• công nhân — industrial/manual worker in common usage
• tài xế — driver
• sinh viên — university/college student

5. Làm nghề gì? is not đang làm gì?

Compare Anh làm nghề gì? (occupation) and Anh đang làm gì? (current action). A doctor who is cooking can say Anh là bác sĩ and Anh đang nấu ăn.

6. Làm gì? can be ambiguous without context

Anh làm gì? may ask what someone does for work or what they are doing, depending on context. Beginners can use làm nghề gì? when they specifically mean occupation.

7. A short conversation

Mai: Chị làm nghề gì?

Lan: Chị là giáo viên.

Mai: Chị dạy ở đâu?

Lan: Chị dạy ở một trường cấp hai.

Mai: Còn chồng chị?

Lan: Anh ấy làm kỹ sư.

8. Work identity is not always one simple label

A person may have several roles, freelance, study while working, be self-employed or be between jobs. The language is useful without assuming everyone has one fixed occupational identity.

9. Other questions about work

• Anh làm công việc gì?
• Chị làm bên gì? — colloquial, asking field/area
• Anh làm ở đâu? — Where do you work?

10. Useful vocabulary

• nghề — occupation/trade
• công việc — work/job/task
• làm — do/work
• dạy — teach
• giáo viên — teacher
• bác sĩ — doctor
• kỹ sư — engineer
• kế toán — accountant/accounting
• công nhân — worker
• tài xế — driver

11. Vietnam in real life

Questions about work often appear early in getting-to-know-you conversations, like questions about quê or family. But not everyone wants to discuss occupation, income or employment details.

12. Common beginner mistakes

• Confusing làm nghề gì? with đang làm gì?.
• Forgetting that là is useful for occupational identity.
• Assuming every person has one fixed occupational label.

Try it

1. Ask someone what they do for a living.
2. Say “I am a teacher.”
3. Say “She is an engineer.”
4. Explain the difference between làm nghề gì? and đang làm gì?.

Quick recap

Làm nghề gì? asks occupation. Là + occupation and làm + occupation are useful answer patterns.