HSK 1 · Lesson 18你做什么工作？ What do you do?

Work and school: 工作, 上班 / 下班, 小学 / 中学 / 大学. Two verbs in a row: 去超市买东西. Verb-object words like 上班. Forms of address: 先生, 女士, 大家.

Speed:Male voice:

Dialogues

Meeting at a party

A
王先生，您做什么工作？
Wáng xiānsheng, nín zuò shénme gōngzuò?
Mr Wang, what do you do?
B
我是医生，在医院工作。您呢？
Wǒ shì yīshēng, zài yīyuàn gōngzuò. Nín ne?
I’m a doctor; I work at a hospital. And you?
A
我在一家公司工作。
Wǒ zài yì jiā gōngsī gōngzuò.
I work for a company.
B
您怎么去上班？
Nín zěnme qù shàngbān?
How do you get to work?
A
我坐出租车去上班。
Wǒ zuò chūzūchē qù shàngbān.
I take a taxi to work.
B
您几点下班？
Nín jǐ diǎn xiàbān?
What time do you finish work?
A
下午五点。我下班去超市买东西。
Xiàwǔ wǔ diǎn. Wǒ xiàbān qù chāoshì mǎi dōngxi.
At five. After work I go shopping at the supermarket.

A family photo

B
这是你的男朋友吗？
Zhè shì nǐ de nánpéngyou ma?
Is this your boyfriend?
A
不是，他是我哥哥。他在大学学习汉语。
Bú shì, tā shì wǒ gēge. Tā zài dàxué xuéxí Hànyǔ.
No, he’s my older brother. He studies Chinese at university.
B
他有女朋友吗？
Tā yǒu nǚpéngyou ma?
Does he have a girlfriend?
A
有，她是中学老师。
Yǒu, tā shì zhōngxué lǎoshī.
Yes, she’s a secondary school teacher.
B
这两个小朋友是谁？
Zhè liǎng ge xiǎopéngyǒu shì shéi?
And who are these two children?
A
是我妹妹和弟弟。妹妹是小学生，弟弟还不上学。
Shì wǒ mèimei hé dìdi. Mèimei shì xiǎoxuéshēng, dìdi hái bú shàngxué.
My younger sister and brother. My sister is in primary school; my brother doesn’t go to school yet.

New words

📝 Worksheet for this lesson

Grammar

1. Two verbs in a row: 去超市买东西

Subject + verb 1 (how) + verb 2 (what for)

Chinese lines up actions in the order they happen. 1) The second verb is the purpose: 我去超市买东西 “I go to the supermarket (to) buy things”. 2) The first verb is the means: 我坐出租车去上班 “I take a taxi to work” (as in lesson 11). No words for “to” or “by” are needed, and the order is fixed: not “我买东西去超市”.

我们去书店买书。
Wǒmen qù shūdiàn mǎi shū.
We’re going to the bookshop to buy books.
他坐飞机去中国。
Tā zuò fēijī qù Zhōngguó.
He is flying to China.

2. Where: 在 + place + verb

Subject + 在 + place + verb

The place of an action goes before the verb: 我在医院工作 “I work at a hospital”, 他在大学学习汉语. “我工作在医院” is a very common learners’ mistake. (The exception from lesson 17: 住在, 坐在 — there the place follows the verb.)

我在一家公司工作。
Wǒ zài yì jiā gōngsī gōngzuò.
I work for a company.
她在小学工作。
Tā zài xiǎoxué gōngzuò.
She works at a primary school.

3. 上班, 下班, 睡觉 — verbs with a built-in object

Some verbs are already “action + object”: 上班 “go on duty” (go to work), 下班 “come off duty”, 上课, 下课, 上学, 睡觉 “sleep a sleep”, 说话 “speak words”, 看病, 生病. They take no second object: “work at a company” is 在公司上班, not “上班公司”. Later you’ll see their parts can split: 上了课.

我爸爸在公司上班。
Wǒ bàba zài gōngsī shàngbān.
My dad works at a company.
你几点下班？
Nǐ jǐ diǎn xiàbān?
What time do you finish work?

4. Forms of address: 先生, 女士, 大家, 小朋友; 男 / 女

先生 “Mr” and 女士 “Ms” follow the surname: 王先生, 王女士. 大家 means “everyone (here)”: 大家好！ 小朋友 is how you address children. 男 “male” and 女 “female” go before a noun: 男老师, 女学生, 男朋友 “boyfriend”, 女朋友 “girlfriend”.

女士们、先生们，大家好！
Nǚshìmen, xiānshengmen, dàjiā hǎo!
Ladies and gentlemen, good day to you all!
我们的老师是男老师。
Wǒmen de lǎoshī shì nán lǎoshī.
Our teacher is a man.

Exercises

1. Listen and choose the translation

  1. Answer
    我坐出租车去公司。 Wǒ zuò chūzūchē qù gōngsī. — I take a taxi to the company.

  2. Answer
    他在大学学习。 Tā zài dàxué xuéxí. — He studies at university.

  3. Answer
    王女士是我们的老师。 Wáng nǚshì shì wǒmen de lǎoshī. — Ms Wang is our teacher.

  4. Answer
    你几点下班？ Nǐ jǐ diǎn xiàbān? — What time do you finish work?

2. Choose the correct option

  1. “I’m going to the supermarket to shop”

    Answer
    我去超市买东西。
  2. “I work at a hospital”

    Answer
    我在医院工作。
  3. 他是___，今年九岁。

    Answer
    小学生
  4. “Hello, everyone!” — ___好！

    Answer
    大家

3. Build the sentence

  1. I take a taxi to work.

    Answer
    我坐出租车去上班。 Wǒ zuò chūzūchē qù shàngbān.
  2. He works for a company.

    Answer
    他在一家公司工作。 Tā zài yì jiā gōngsī gōngzuò.
  3. We’re going to the bookshop to buy books.

    Answer
    我们去书店买书。 Wǒmen qù shūdiàn mǎi shū.
  4. Does your younger sister go to school?

    Answer
    你妹妹上学吗？ Nǐ mèimei shàngxué ma?

4. Dialogue: answer as the speaker

You are speaker B. Pick the right reply and the conversation goes on.

A
你好！你是大学生吗？
Nǐ hǎo! Nǐ shì dàxuéshēng ma?
Hi! Are you a university student?
B
不是，我工作了。
Bú shì, wǒ gōngzuò le.
No, I work now.
A
你做什么工作？
Nǐ zuò shénme gōngzuò?
What do you do?
B
我是医生，在医院工作。
Wǒ shì yīshēng, zài yīyuàn gōngzuò.
I’m a doctor; I work at a hospital.
A
你怎么去上班？
Nǐ zěnme qù shàngbān?
How do you get to work?
B
我坐出租车去。
Wǒ zuò chūzūchē qù.
By taxi.

5. Translate into Chinese

  1. Mr Wang is a doctor.
    Answer
    王先生是医生。Wáng xiānsheng shì yīshēng.
  2. My younger brother is a secondary school student.
    Answer
    我弟弟是中学生。Wǒ dìdi shì zhōngxuéshēng.
  3. He works for a company.
    Answer
    他在公司工作。Tā zài gōngsī gōngzuò.

💡 Did you know?: How to address people

You address a teacher simply as 老师 — even a teacher you don’t know. 先生 is “Mr”, but 我先生 means “my husband”. Children are 小朋友, and a taxi driver or craftsman is 师傅 shīfu.

Phrase audio — Microsoft speech synthesis (voices Xiaoxiao, Yunyang, Yunxi); syllables and some words — native recordings (audio-cmn, CC BY-SA).