Job Titles for Women

Level 3

When the person is a woman, the job title is feminine: skolotājs → skolotāja (teacher), ārsts → ārste (doctor), students → studente (student). Say Mana māsa ir ārste. (My sister is a doctor.)

How It Works

1. The patterns.

  • -tājs, -ējs → -tāja, -ēja: skolotāja (teacher), pārdevēja (shop assistant), tulkotāja (translator) — see agent nouns
  • -s → -e: ārste (doctor), studente (student), direktore (director), advokāte (lawyer), profesore (professor)
  • -is → -e: šofere (driver), viesmīle (waitress)
  • -nieks → -niece: skolniece (schoolgirl), dzejniece (poet) — see -nieks and -niece

2. Watch the consonant. Before -e, g becomes ģ: psihologs → psiholoģe (psychologist), ķirurgs → ķirurģe (surgeon). A few forms are irregular, such as aktieris → aktrise (actress).

3. Agreement. Adjectives and pronouns agree with the feminine form: Viņa ir laba skolotāja. (She is a good teacher.)

4. Groups. The masculine plural covers men or a mixed group: skolotāji (teachers). The feminine plural means only women: skolotājas.

5. After par. In par with the accusative, some pairs look alike and some do not: Viņa strādā par skolotāju (the same accusative for both), but Viņa strādā par ārsti (ārste → ārsti).

Examples (6)

  1. Mana mamma ir skolotāja.

    My mum is a teacher.

    Skolotājs → skolotāja for a woman.

  2. Viņa ir pārdevēja lielveikalā.

    She is a shop assistant in a supermarket.

    Pārdevējs → pārdevēja.

  3. Mana māsa ir ārste.

    My sister is a doctor.

    Ārsts → ārste.

  4. Anna ir studente.

    Anna is a student.

    Students → studente.

  5. Viņa ir laba psiholoģe.

    She is a good psychologist.

    Psihologs → psiholoģe: g becomes ģ before -e. The adjective is feminine too.

  6. Mūsu skolotājas ir ļoti jaukas.

    Our (female) teachers are very nice.

    The feminine plural shows that all the teachers are women.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the masculine title for a woman.

    Mana māsa ir ārsts.
    Mana māsa ir ārste.

    When the person is a woman, the job title is feminine: ārste.

  • Using a masculine adjective and title for a woman.

    Viņa ir labs skolotājs.
    Viņa ir laba skolotāja.

    Both the title and the adjective agree with the woman: laba skolotāja.

  • Forgetting the feminine form of students.

    Anna ir students.
    Anna ir studente.

    Students becomes studente for a woman.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Job Titles for WomenLevel 3

Learn This First

Job titles for women use feminine suffixes.

Words in This Pattern

-a-e-ējs-nieks