Today, we will talk about work, we will see the vocabulary and the useful expressions to speak about it.

To help us, we will use the character of Andréa Martel from the French series Call my agent.

If you haven't seen this series yet, don't wait any longer, because it's great.

To summarize this series without spoiling you, it is a series around star agents and in particular of the agency ASK. In this series, we follow the adventures and adventures of the agents of which Andrea is part.

The character of Andrea is passionate and devoted to her work, it is the perfect example to see how to talk about your work in French. 

 

 

Let's see the vocabulary and expressions used to talk about our work in french :

To say what work we do in French, we can say:

Je travaille en tant qu’agent.

Je travaille comme agent.

Je suis agent.

J’effectue le métier d’agent. (formel)

 

In the working world, there are several possible statuses:

Un(e) salarié(e) / Un(e) employé(e)

Être indépendant(e) / freelance / à son compte / auto-entrepreneur / micro-entrepreneur 

Être patron(ne) / PDG (Président(e) directeur(trice) général) / directeur(trice)

Être associé(e)

Un(e) artisan(e)

Un(e) fonctionnaire de l’État

Un(e) chômeur(euse)

Un(e) étudiant(e)

Un(e) retraité(e)

 

“Décrocher un contrat / Décrocher un travail” it means "Get a contract / Get a job".

“La rémunération” is the money one receives for a job. We also talk about “salaire”

“Une commission” or “une prime” it's extra money that you get if you get a big contract, if you reach a goal. It's bonus money.

 

Someone who works a lot, he or she will be called a “bourreau de travail”.

We can also say “Ne pas compter ses heures”, we work so much that we don't count the hours we put in.

If we work more than our working hours, we can say that we make “heures supplémentaires” or “heures sup” (informal)

 

When we don't work, we can say that we take “des congés”. When we are employees, we talk about “congés payés”, paid days off all the same.

When we are sick, we go to the doctor to get “un arrêt maladie”.

 

“Une tâche” work is something you have to do.

“Déléguer” is to give a work task or assignment to someone else instead of doing it yourself.

 

“Être passionné(e) par quelque chose” refers to the fact that we love something. ⚠️. Attention, we use this expression with "par" and not "avec".

“Ne pas avoir peur de l’échec”. L'échec is the opposite of success. A failure is the noun and the verb, it is “échouer”.

 

Here are some adjectives to describe someone at work:

“Être persévérant(e)” is not to give up and to fight to achieve your goals.

“Être indépendant(e)” is not to depend on anyone and to be on your own.

“Travailler dur” is to work hard.

“Faire face à quelque chose” is to face something that is often difficult, a problem or a challenge.

 

“Avoir un tempérament de feu” is to have a very strong character and to get angry easily and to take things to heart, to be sensitive on certain points.

“Être compétitif(ve)” it's the fact of wanting to do better than the others and to win.

“Être manipulateur(trice)” is to know how to control and influence others.

“Être tyrannique” or “être un tyran” is to be very strict and a bit mean at the time.

“Avoir un franc-parler” is to be very honest and always say what you think, even if it may hurt someone.

“Dérouter quelqu’un” is to disturb someone, to make them uncomfortable.

“Être ingénieux(euse)” is to be intelligent and find solutions to problems, to be able to adapt in a difficult situation.

“Connaitre les ficelles du métier” is an expression that is used when a person knows his field of work very well and knows how to achieve his goals in that field.

 

I'll see you soon for new adventures, in French of course! 🇫🇷