Profession vocabulary enables introductions and small talk. Common professions: de leraar/lerares (teacher m/f), de dokter (doctor), de verpleegkundige (nurse), de ingenieur (engineer), de advocaat (lawyer), de accountant (accountant), de journalist (journalist), de kok (chef), de chauffeur (driver), de politieagent (police officer), de brandweerman (firefighter), de architect (architect), de programmeur (programmer).
Asking about professions: “Wat voor werk doe je?” (What kind of work do you do?), “Wat is je beroep?” (What is your profession? — more formal), “Ik werk als…” (I work as…), “Ik ben van beroep…” (By profession I am…). Workplace vocabulary: het kantoor (office), de vergadering (meeting), de collega (colleague), de baas (boss — informal), de leidinggevende (manager — formal), de deadline (deadline), thuiswerken (to work from home).
Many professions have both masculine and feminine forms in Dutch: leraar / lerares, directeur / directrice, secretaris / secretaresse. Increasingly, gender-neutral terms are used: verpleegkundige (nurse — gender neutral), leraar used for any gender in many contexts. The suffix -er often makes a verb into a profession: schrijven → schrijver (writer), werken → werker (worker), ondernemen → ondernemer (entrepreneur). Learning this suffix pattern helps you generate profession vocabulary from known verbs.