Here are 60 Spanish words for work, from la reunión and el informe to la subida de sueldo, in the Spanish of Spain. Learn these five first: el trabajo (job, work), el jefe (boss), la reunión (meeting), el ordenador (computer) and el sueldo (salary). Below: how to say what you do, feminine job titles and office phrases.
- Words
- 60: jobs, the office, money and careers
- Variety
- Spain Spanish, Latin American words noted
- Level
- A1–B1
- Read them in
- Contos stories (chapters 1–2 free)
60 Spanish words for work
People are listed in the masculine form (el jefe, el cliente); the first section shows the feminine. The Contos web app uses this same pack for flashcard review.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| el trabajo | job |
| la oficina | office |
| la reunión | meeting |
| el compañero de trabajo | colleague |
| el jefe | boss |
| el gerente | manager |
| el equipo | team |
| el proyecto | project |
| la fecha límite | deadline |
| el correo electrónico | |
| el informe | report |
| el contrato | contract |
| el cliente | client |
| la empresa | company |
| el sueldo | salary |
| la entrevista de trabajo | job interview |
| el currículum | CV |
| la carrera profesional | career |
| la presentación | presentation |
| el horario | schedule |
| la tarea | task |
| el ordenador | computer |
| la impresora | printer |
| la llamada | phone call |
| el descanso | break |
| la pausa para comer | lunch break |
| las vacaciones | holiday |
| el día libre | day off |
| las horas extra | overtime |
| contratar | to hire |
| solicitar un empleo | to apply for a job |
| negociar | to negotiate |
| firmar | to sign |
| despedir | to fire |
| el presupuesto | budget |
| el precio | price |
| la factura | invoice |
| el beneficio | profit |
| la venta | sale |
| la atención al cliente | customer service |
| la cita | appointment |
| enviar un correo electrónico | to send an email |
| ocupado | busy |
| experimentado | experienced |
| profesional | professional |
| el empleado | employee |
| el empleador | employer |
| dejar el trabajo | to resign |
| el ascenso | promotion |
| el documento | document |
| imprimir | to print |
| la habilidad | skill |
| la experiencia | experience |
| el departamento | department |
| el horario laboral | working hours |
| ganar | to earn |
| el viaje de negocios | business trip |
| el lugar de trabajo | workplace |
| jubilarse | to retire |
| la subida de sueldo | pay rise |
How to say what you do
To ask someone's job, say ¿A qué te dedicas? (literally "what do you devote yourself to?") or simply ¿En qué trabajas? In the answer, Spanish leaves out the article that English needs: soy profesora, not soy una profesora. The article comes back only when you add a description: es una profesora excelente.
Soy enfermero.
I'm a nurse.
Trabajo en una empresa de software.
I work for a software company.
Trabajo desde casa dos días a la semana.
I work from home two days a week.
Trabaja como traductora.Feminine job titles
Most job words change -o to -a or add -a after a consonant: la empleada, la jefa, la profesora. Words ending in -ente or -ista usually keep the same form and change only the article: la gerente, la dentista, la cliente. You will also see la clienta, which is equally correct.
Su jefa, la mujer que le grita por los detalles de los clientes, está escribiéndole en una aplicación de citas.Office words in Spain and Latin America
Office Spanish is fairly uniform, but the computer gives away where someone is from. The table lists the main differences for the words in this pack.
| English | Spain | Much of Latin America |
|---|---|---|
| computer | el ordenador | la computadora, el computador (Chile, Colombia) |
| pay rise | la subida de sueldo | el aumento de sueldo |
| CV | el currículum, el CV | el currículum, la hoja de vida (Colombia) |
| to apply for a job | solicitar un empleo | postular a un trabajo (Chile, Peru, Argentina) |
| to quit a job | dejar el trabajo | renunciar |
Two verbs to handle with care
The list gives dejar el trabajo for to resign, because that is what you say when you simply leave your job. Dimitir also means to resign, but in Spain it sounds formal: ministers and directors dimiten. And despedir means to fire, while the reflexive despedirse means to say goodbye, so me despidieron (they fired me) and me despedí (I said goodbye) are very different news.
Phrases for the working day
These sentences use words from the list and are the kind you need in your first week in a Spanish-speaking office.
Tengo una reunión a las diez.
I've got a meeting at ten.
Esta semana estoy muy ocupada.
I'm very busy this week.
Ocupado takes estar and agrees: ocupada for a woman.
Te envío el informe por correo.
I'll send you the report by email.
¿Podemos cambiar la fecha de la reunión?
Can we change the date of the meeting?
Mañana tengo el día libre.
Tomorrow is my day off.
At A2 the stories give the office its pressures as well as its vocabulary. A courier who has made a mistake gets a call:
Su jefe está enfadado.Start a Spanish story at A1 and tap any word you don't know to see what it means.
Read free in your browserFrequently asked questions
How do you ask "What do you do?" in Spanish?
¿A qué te dedicas? is the most natural way, or ¿A qué se dedica? to someone you call usted. ¿En qué trabajas? also works. Answer without an article: soy abogado, soy diseñadora.
Is it ordenador or computadora?
Ordenador in Spain, computadora in most of Latin America (computador in Chile and Colombia). Everyone understands both. A laptop is un portátil in Spain and una laptop or una computadora portátil in much of Latin America.
How do you say "I work from home" in Spanish?
Trabajo desde casa, or trabajo en casa. Working remotely is el teletrabajo, and the verb is teletrabajar. Both are standard in Spain.
What does despedir mean?
Despedir means to fire someone: la empresa despidió a diez empleados. The reflexive despedirse means to say goodbye: me despedí de mis compañeros. Context and the pronoun tell you which one is meant.