Chapter 9, lesson 77

Work and Study

Say what you work as and where with jobbar som and arbetar som, ask Vad jobbar du med?, talk about study and future jobs, and tell a kock from a chef.

What you will learn

You can say what you work as and where, what you study and what you want to become.

Talking about work

SwedishEnglish
Vad jobbar du med?What do you do for a living?
Jag jobbar som kock på en restaurang.I work as a cook at a restaurant.
Greta är chef på Kafé Lyktan.Greta is the boss at Kafé Lyktan.
Hugo och Kenji arbetar på en skola.Hugo and Kenji work at a school.
Oskar studerar i Uppsala.Oskar studies in Uppsala.
Ida går i skolan.Ida goes to school.
Vad vill du bli? Jag vill bli läkare.What do you want to be? I want to be a doctor.

Vad jobbar du med? asks what someone does for a living. The answer often uses jobbar som or arbetar som and the job, with no en before the job, just as after är in Kenji är lärare. Jobba and arbeta mean the same, and arbeta is a little more formal. Both are -ar verbs, so their past forms are jobbade and arbetade. Studera works the same way, with the past form studerade.

Studera means to study, for example at a university. You also know läsa for studying a subject, as in Jag läser svenska. Gå i skolan means to be a pupil at a school, so Ida går i skolan does not say how she gets there. Vad vill du bli? asks what job someone wants in the future. After vill, bli stays in the dictionary form.

At work

SwedishEnglish
Hugo är min kollega.Hugo is my colleague.
Chefen har ett stort kontor.The boss has a big office.
Vi har ett möte klockan tre.We have a meeting at three.
Datorn fungerar inte.The computer is not working.

En kock is a cook in a restaurant or a café. En chef is a boss or a manager, not a cook, even though the English word chef looks the same. Fungera is for things that work as they should, such as a computer or a phone. For people, use jobba or arbeta.

Common mistakes

Not like thisLike thisWhy
Jag jobbar som en lärare.Jag jobbar som lärare.When you say what someone works as, no en comes before the job.
Chefen lagar mat på restaurangen. about the cookKocken lagar mat på restaurangen.A chef is a boss. A cook is a kock.
Datorn jobbar inte. about a broken computerDatorn fungerar inte.For a thing that does not work as it should, use fungerar.

Check yourself

A few questions from the Learning Path on this lesson. Answer, then check, or show the answer with its explanation.

  1. Vilket ord betyder den som leder en arbetsplats?
  2. Fyll i rätt form av fungera.

    Telefonen inte.

  3. Ylva lagar maten på en restaurang hela dagen, men hon är inte chef där. Välj ordet som passar.

    Ylva jobbar som ___ på en restaurang.

  4. Meningen ska betyda Ingrid works as a nurse at the hospital. Skriv det saknade ordet. Använd ett av de givna orden.

    Choose from som, med, en

    Ingrid jobbar sjuksköterska på sjukhuset.

  5. Välj den engelska betydelsen av den svenska meningen eller frasen.

    Hugo och Kenji arbetar på en skola.

  6. Välj betydelsen av en läkare.

How this lesson connects

Learning Path

Practice and review

Practice this lesson, check your answers and review mistakes in a separate round. Track your results as you work through the course.

Lessons and vocabulary are free to read. Checking your practice access.

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