Professions vocabulary Profissões
20 Portuguese words on the topic of professions — with pictures, audio recordings and example sentences. With ser, no article: Sou médico — I am a doctor.
| Picture | English | Portuguese · Português | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 | doctor | o médico | Doctors are addressed as doutor/doutora. |
 | nurse | o enfermeiro | From enfermo (ill) — though the everyday word for sick is doente. |
 | teacher | o professor | False friend: any teacher, not only a university professor. Feminine: a professora. |
 | student | estudante | Same form for both genders: o/a estudante; a pupil is aluno/aluna. |
 | engineer | o engenheiro | nh sounds like the 'ni' in 'onion'; feminine a engenheira. |
 | lawyer | o advogado | Related to 'advocate'; feminine a advogada. |
 | police officer | o policial | Brazil: o/a policial; The police force is a polícia. 🇵🇹 PortugalPortugal: o polícia. |
 | firefighter | o bombeiro | From bomba (pump) — historically the man who worked the water pump. |
 | cook | o cozinheiro | Family: a cozinha (kitchen), cozinhar (to cook). A professional chef: o chef. |
 | waiter | o garçom | waitress: garçonete. 🔗 RootBrazil: garçom (from French). 🇵🇹 PortugalPortugal: empregado de mesa. |
 | seller | o vendedor | From vender (to sell); feminine a vendedora. |
 | driver | o motorista | -ista nouns serve both genders: o/a motorista. |
 | farmer | o agricultor | In Brazil a farm owner is a fazendeiro (from fazenda, 'farm'). |
 | carpenter | o carpinteiro | -eiro is the trade suffix, like English -er: carpinteiro, bombeiro. |
 | electrician | eletricista | Note the spelling: no 'c' before the t — eletricista. Same form for both genders. |
 | journalist | jornalista | From jornal (newspaper); j sounds like the 's' in 'measure'. |
 | writer | o escritor | From escrever (to write); feminine a escritora. |
 | singer | cantor | From cantar (to sing); feminine cantora. |
 | actor | o ator | Feminine is irregular: a atriz. Note the spelling without c: ator. |
 | retiree | o aposentado | Brazil: aposentado. 🇵🇹 PortugalPortugal: reformado. |