If you are a native Brazilian Portuguese speaker, you may experience confusion when answering the question “What's your profession?” because in your native language you often respond without using the article (a or an) before the profession.

➡ Eu sou professora. (Portuguese)

➡ I am a teacher. (English)

In English, what determines the article used (a or an) is the sound of the beginning of the word. Here are some tips to help you:

✅ When the sound is a consonant, we use“a”:
Examples:

- Claire is a journalist. 

- David is a cook.

- She is a university student. (university sounds like “y”)

✅ When the sound is a vowel, we use “an”:

Examples:

- I am an accountant.

- He is an actor.

Note: When referring to more than one person we don't use articles.

Ex: They are lawyers.

Tell us what your profession is in English.

Write in the comments section “I am a … / I am an …

Share these helpful tips with your friends so that they learn too. And schedule a lesson today using the code LIMLAUNCH to get a 50% discount!