What do you do? = What is your job?
- What are you doing?
- I'm presenting a video about English.
- What do you do?
- I'm a English teacher.
Do you see the difference?
These two questions sound similar. but mean different things.
The first one is asking what are you doing right now, this minute.
You answer it using an -ing verb.
-
- I'm reading.
- I'm watching TV.
While the second is actually a shortened version of "What do you do for a living?". This is who we ask "What is you job?" in natural English.
So who would you answer this questions? Just think of it as the other person is asking you "What is you job?"
You could answer with "I am", plus your job.
-
- I'm a teacher.
- I'm a programmer.
**You can also mention the place that you at starting with "I work at".
-
- I work at a hospital.
- I work at a law firm.
If you work for a big company that is well-known, you can say "I work for", and then the name:
-
- I work for Microsoft.
- I work for The New York Times.
When you ask the questions, and the other person tells you their job, it's polite to make some kind of positive comment about his or her job, for example:
-
- How interesting!
- That must be exciting.
- Oh, really!
Remember to sound sincere!
hare
2020.3.23