Vocabulary · Lesson 20

Jobs & workplaces

Talk about a person’s work without mixing up the role, workplace, employer, and responsibilities. Compare She’s a nurse, She works at Northside Clinic, She works for Northside Health, and She helps patients.

45–55 min corea / an + roleas · at · in · for · from home15–20 min optional listening and retrieval

NoticeSeparate four kinds of work information.

DiscoverChoose a or an from the first sound.

BuildConnect roles, places, employers, and tasks.

UsePresent a fictional team and ask clear questions.

Work can be a useful conversation topic, but it is not always the right first question. A person can answer briefly, choose a different topic, or use a safe status such as I’m a student, I’m retired, or I’m not working right now.

Two-minute retrieval

Three quick checks from earlier lessons

Answer from memory, then check. Say each complete sentence aloud.

1The digital clock shows 7:30: It is seven. (telling the time)

2The routine belongs to one person: Maya every weekday. (present simple)

3The meeting card gives the exact time 9:00: The meeting starts nine. (prepositions of time)

Meet the roles

Use this as an optional word bank. Say each role in a complete chunk: She’s a doctor. He works as a cook. The last card, student, describes study status and is not necessarily a paid job.

doctor

teacher

cook

police officer

firefighter

farmer

mechanic

office worker

scientist

artist

pilot

construction worker

factory worker

programmer

singer

astronaut

judge

student

Meet the workplaces

These are physical settings. Say the complete chunks: at a hospital, in an office, and from home. A store is the usual U.S. English word for a place that sells things.

office

hospital

school

factory

store

bank

hotel

home

Notice before the rule

Four lines from a fictional welcome event

“I’m Nia. I’m a nurse. I work at Northside Clinic. I work for Northside Health, and I help patients.”

Which words name Nia’s role? Which name the workplace?
Which words name the employer? Which words describe a regular responsibility?
Why does nurse have a? What would change before engineer?

Discovery check: choose a or an from the sound

Say the next word aloud. Use an before a vowel sound and a before a consonant sound.

1The profile says Nia works in patient care: She’s nurse.

2The profile says Omar designs machines: He’s engineer.

3The profile says Zoe prepares financial reports: She’s accountant.

4The profile says Luis leads the office team: He’s manager.

5The profile says Ava installs electrical systems: She’s electrician.

6The study profile says Ben attends college: He’s university student.

Get to the root: four kinds of work information

A job conversation becomes easier when you decide what information you want. The same person can give four different answers because each answer has a different focus.

information	question	answer pattern
occupation or role	What do you do?	I’m a nurse. I work as a nurse.
workplace	Where do you work?	I work at Northside Clinic.
employer	Who do you work for?	I work for Northside Health.
responsibilities	What do you do at work?	I help patients.

What do you do? commonly asks about occupation during an introduction. In a different situation, it can ask about an action. Context creates the meaning. Compare a welcome event with someone asking what to do during an emergency.

Role, workplace, employer, department, or arrangement?

pattern	use	example
work as + a/an + role	name the role	I work as an accountant.
work at + named place	present an organization or location as the workplace point	I work at City Hospital.
work in + setting, department, or field	look inside an environment or area of work	I work in an office. I work in sales.
work for + employer or client	name the organization or person that employs the worker	I work for SunTech.
work from home	name a remote-work arrangement	I work from home on Fridays.

At and in can overlap

She works at a hospital presents the hospital as her workplace. She works in a hospital presents the setting she works inside. Both can be natural. Use in clearly for a department or field: in the billing department, in education. Use at clearly when naming a workplace point: at Northside Clinic. Do not treat every at/in difference as a right-or-wrong choice.

A singular role needs a marker

Use a/an with one singular countable role: I’m a nurse. She’s an engineer.
Do not use a/an before a plural role: They’re nurses.
Choose the article by the first sound, not the first letter: an accountant but a university student because university starts with /y/.

Roles connect to tasks, but titles vary

The examples below are useful starting points, not universal definitions. The same title can involve different tasks in different workplaces. A cook prepares food; a chef may also plan menus or lead a kitchen, but workplaces use these titles differently.

role	possible responsibility	possible setting
teacher	teaches classes	school or online
nurse	helps patients	clinic or hospital
cook	prepares food	restaurant or cafeteria
mechanic	repairs vehicles	repair shop
programmer	writes and tests software	office or home
server	takes orders and brings food	restaurant
receptionist	greets visitors and answers calls	office, clinic, or hotel

Responsibility check: what does each person do at work?

Use the stated task, not a stereotype about every person with that job.

1Nia’s clinic profile says “patient care”: She .

2Mr. Lee’s schedule lists three English classes: He .

3Rosa’s garage card lists brake and engine repairs: She .

4Dev’s project list names a new phone app: He .

Sound natural: stress, linking, and third-person endings

The spellings below are simple sound guides, not new spellings to write. Put one clear beat in each longer role word.

word	sound guide	spoken detail
engineer	en-juh-NEER	link the article: an-engineer
accountant	uh-COUNT-uhnt	the first and last vowel sounds are light
electrician	ih-lek-TRISH-uhn	the ending -cian sounds like shuhn
receptionist	ri-SEP-shuh-nist	the letters -tion- include a /sh/ sound

Keep the linking words light in work as a, work at a, and work for a. Give the new information the clearest beat: I work as a COOK. I work for SUNTech.

Keep the third-person ending audible. works ends with /s/. teaches adds a final syllable /ɪz/. Compare I work with She works, and I teach with He teaches.

Listen: what kind of work information did you hear?

Your teacher reads each fictional line once with natural U.S. rhythm and once more slowly. Choose the information focus. Check your answer before discussing the line with your tutor.

Tutor-read listening check

1Clip 1 gives a .

2Clip 2 gives a .

3Clip 3 gives a .

4Clip 4 gives a .

5Clip 5 gives an .

6Clip 6 gives a .

Choose the linking pattern

Drill 1: use the stated focus

Read the label in parentheses. It removes the possible at/in overlap and gives one intended answer.

1Nia works a nurse. (role)

2Nia works Northside Clinic. (named workplace)

3Zoe works the accounting department. (department)

4Dev works SunTech. (employer)

5On Fridays, Dev works home. (remote arrangement)

6Rosa works auto repair. (field)

Build the meaning, then the sentence

Drill 2: match each fictional profile to its role

Tap a role, then tap the staff card that explicitly describes that person’s task.

Drill 3: build the role sentence

The fictional staff card labels Nia’s role “nurse.” Build the complete sentence.

Drill 4: build the employer sentence

The same staff card names Northside Health as Nia’s employer. Build the sentence.

Notice and repair errors

Drill 5: repair the missing article

In the sentence “I’m nurse,” tap the word that needs an article before it.

Drill 6: repair the verb for he

In the sentence “He work in the billing department,” tap the one word to change.

Oral transform: turn profile notes into sentences

Say each complete sentence aloud first. Reveal only after you answer.

1 Nia · role: nurse

Nia is a nurse. She works as a nurse.

2 Omar · role: engineer

Omar is an engineer. He works as an engineer.

3 Zoe · department: accounting

Zoe works in the accounting department.

4 Dev · employer: SunTech

Dev works for SunTech.

5 Rosa · task: repair cars

Rosa repairs cars.

Read a fictional staff directory

Northside Community Center

Nia is a nurse. She works at Northside Clinic, one part of the community center. She works for Northside Health and helps patients. Dev is a programmer. He works in the technology department and writes software for the center. He usually works from home on Fridays.

Read, then choose the exact information

1. What is Nia’s named workplace?

2. Who is Nia’s employer?

3. What is Dev’s usual Friday work arrangement?

Play and practice

Games and a short reading that recycle this lesson. Use them as a warm-up, a fast finisher, or homework. Each one checks itself.

Read

Meet the hotel team

Read once for meaning. Then read again and do the tasks below.

Staff directory85 wordsAbout 1 min

Welcome to the Eastside Hotel team! Ana is a receptionist. She works at the front desk and greets guests. Tom is a cook. He works in the hotel kitchen and prepares breakfast and lunch.

Mei is an accountant. She works in the finance department and prepares reports. She works from home on Mondays. Luis is a mechanic. He works for City Cars, and he repairs the hotel’s vans.

Our manager, Sara, works in an office on the second floor. Questions? Ask Sara or the receptionist!

Find it

Tap the 6 job words. One job appears twice.

Check your understanding

1. Where does Ana work?

2. Who does Luis work for?

3. When does Mei work from home?

Crossword

Who does this work?

Click a clue or a square, then type. Press Check when you finish.

Across

Down

Sort it

A or an?

Say each role aloud. Listen to the first sound, then tap the role and tap its box.

Word search

Workplaces

Find the word for each clue. Words run across or down. Tap the first letter, then the last.

Doctors and nurses work here. → ?
Teachers and students are here. → ?
Workers make products here. → ?
You buy things here (U.S.). → ?
You keep your money here. → ?
Guests sleep here when they travel. → ?
People work at desks and computers here. → ?

Use it safely and flexibly

You never need to disclose your real job, employer, workplace, income, schedule, coworkers, or employment status. Use the fictional profiles below, invent details, or share personal information only when you freely choose.

Question choice: Your partner has a fictional profile. Ask one question about the role, one about the workplace, one about the employer, and one about responsibilities. Use What do you do?, Where do you work?, Who do you work for?, and What do you do at work?.

Flexible answers: Practice three honest status answers without adding private details: I’m a student. I’m retired. I’m not working right now. Then move the conversation to a comfortable topic.

At or in: Explain the difference in viewpoint between works at a hospital and works in a hospital. Give one clear department example with in.

Final production: introduce a fictional community-center team for 45–60 seconds. Include two people, two roles with a/an, one named workplace, one employer, one department or field, two responsibilities, one remote arrangement, and one clear question for a new team member.

Extra challenge: Add one new fictional profile. Reformulate it twice, first as a short social introduction and then as a more detailed staff-directory entry.

Reflect

Say the system back

Complete this aloud: “To name a role, I use ______ or ______. To name an employer, I use ______. To name a department, I use ______. A remote arrangement is work ______ home.”

Then explain why a university student and an engineer use different articles, and say the four different work questions from memory.

Final quiz: choose from meaning

1. The profile gives one role: Omar is ___ engineer.

2. The profile gives one study status: Ben is ___ university student.

3. The next words name a role: Nia works ___ a nurse.

4. The next name is the employer: Dev works ___ SunTech.

5. The next words name a department: Zoe works ___ the accounting department.

6. You want the employer’s name. Which question asks for it?

7. The question is “What does Nia do at work?” Which answer gives a responsibility?

8. The Friday schedule says Dev does his job at home. Which sentence is correct?

Return tomorrow before rereading the lesson. Complete the five-minute next-day retrieval, then revisit only the role, article, question, or work pattern that still feels slow.

Next-day retrieval

Choose the missing work pattern

1The profile labels Ava’s role “electrician”: She works an electrician.

2The directory presents Lakeview Hotel as the named workplace: She works Lakeview Hotel.

3The directory identifies Horizon Group as the employer: She works Horizon Group.

Repair the missing article

The new profile says, “Omar is engineer.” Tap the word that needs an article before it.

Thirty-second retrieval

Without looking back, invent one safe fictional profile. State a role, named workplace, employer, responsibility, and remote or on-site arrangement. Then ask the four work questions from memory.

Ava is an electrician. She works at Lakeview Hotel for Horizon Group. She repairs electrical systems and sometimes works from home on reports. What do you do? Where do you work? Who do you work for? What do you do at work?