职业 meaning in English
occupation; profession; vocation; professional
Meaning of 职业
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- occupation; profession; vocation
- professional
How to use 职业
职业 is the neutral word for someone's job type or profession, common on forms and in polite questions. It can also act like an adjective meaning professional, as in 职业选手 (zhíyè xuǎnshǒu, professional player). Example: 你的职业是什么？ (Nǐ de zhíyè shì shénme?) What is your occupation?
职 (zhí) means a post or duty, and 业 (yè) means a line of work. Put them together and you get the line of work you hold as your post: your occupation.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 职业 (zhíyè, occupation) with 专业 (zhuānyè, academic major or specialty). Your 专业 is what you studied, while your 职业 is what you do for a living.
职业 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
职 zhí · duty · 11 strokes
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- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
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- 11
业 yè · line of business · 5 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 职业.
| 作业 | zuòyè | school assignment; homework |
| 事业 | shìyè | undertaking; project |
| 专业 | zhuānyè | specialty; specialized field |
| 商业 | shāngyè | business; trade |
| 工业 | gōngyè | industry |
| 农业 | nóngyè | agriculture; farming |
| 开业 | kāiyè | to open a business; to open a practice |
| 就业 | jiùyè | to get a job; employment |
| 创业 | chuàngyè | to begin an undertaking; to start an enterprise; entrepreneurship |
| 职工 | zhígōng | employee; staff member; worker |
| 毕业 | bìyè | graduation; to graduate |
| 企业 | qǐyè | company; firm; enterprise; corporation |
Questions about 职业
What does 职业 mean?
职业 (zhíyè) means "occupation; profession; vocation; professional" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 职业?
职业 is made of 2 characters: 职 (11 strokes), 业 (5 strokes). That is 16 strokes in total.
Is 职业 an HSK word?
Yes. 职业 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 职业 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 职业 is written 職業.
What is the difference between 职业 and 工作?
工作 (gōngzuò) is the everyday word for a job or for working, and it can be a verb. 职业 is a noun for the type of profession and sounds more formal. In casual talk people usually ask 你做什么工作？ rather than asking about 职业.
Can 职业 mean professional in the sense of skilled?
Yes, it often describes something done as a paid career, like 职业运动员 (zhíyè yùndòngyuán, professional athlete). For behavior that is skilled or businesslike, Chinese more often uses 专业 (zhuānyè), as in 他很专业 (he is very professional).