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Work and jobs

Goal: talk about jobs and the people who do them, name places where people work, and describe your daily routine at work using the present simple — for example 'I work in an office and I answer emails every morning.'

My sister is a nurse, and she works at a busy hospital in Addis Ababa.

እህቴ ነርስ ናት፣ በአዲስ አበባ ውስጥ ባለ ሥራ የበዛበት ሆስፒታል ትሰራለች።

I am an accountant. Every morning I check the numbers and answer emails from customers.

እኔ የሒሳብ ባለሙያ ነኝ። በየጠዋቱ ቁጥሮችን አረጋግጣለሁ እንዲሁም ከደንበኞች የሚመጡ ኢሜይሎችን እመልሳለሁ።

Abebe is a shopkeeper. He opens the shop at eight and sells coffee, sugar and bread.

አበበ ሱቅ ነጋዴ ነው። ሱቁን ስምንት ሰዓት ይከፍታል፣ ቡና፣ ስኳርና ዳቦ ይሸጣል።

What do you do for a living, and do you usually work in the morning or in the afternoon?

ለመተዳደሪያ ምን ትሰራለህ፣ እና አብዛኛውን ጊዜ ጠዋት ወይስ ከሰዓት በኋላ ነው የምትሰራው?

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Useful jobs and workplaces: a teacher works in a school; a doctor and a nurse work in a hospital; an engineer works on a site or in an office; a farmer works on a farm; a driver drives a bus or a taxi; a waiter works in a cafe or restaurant; an accountant and a manager work in an office.

Hanna is a young engineer who works for a small construction company in Addis Ababa. She wakes up early because her office is far from her home, so she takes a minibus taxi at seven o'clock every weekday. When she arrives, she first drinks a cup of buna with her colleagues, and then she checks the plans for the new building they are working on. In the morning she usually sits at her computer and draws designs, but after lunch she visits the building site to talk to the workers and the manager. Her friend Kebede is a teacher at a nearby school; he starts later than Hanna, but he stands all day and marks many books in the evening. On Fridays Hanna finishes early, so she meets Kebede at a small cafe near the market, where they eat injera and talk about their busy week. Both of them like their jobs, even though they are tired, because they feel that their work helps the city grow.

Recap: say a job with 'I am a/an ...', say where with 'I work in/at/for ...', and describe your day in the present simple — remembering the -s after 'he', 'she' and 'it': 'He starts early and writes reports every afternoon.'

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Abebe is a shopkeeper. He opens the shop at eight and sells coffee, sugar and bread.