How to Say ‘What kind of work do you do? / What kind of job are you doing?’ in Japanese
どんな仕事をしていますか
donna shigoto o shi te i masu ka
[dohn-nah shee-goh-toh oh shee teh ee mahss kah]
💬 Usage Tip: [を] marks the object: [仕事をする] (to do work). This question often means “What do you do for a living?”
🇯🇵 In Japan: In casual conversation, you might also hear [お仕事は何ですか] as a common variant.
Phrase Breakdown
どんな
donna
[dohn-nah]
what kind of; what sort of
Introduces the topic you’re asking about (kind/type).
どんな仕事をしていますか。
What kind of work do you do?
仕事を
shigoto o
work / job (object marker を)
仕事 = job/work. を marks it as what you “do.”
仕事を探しています。
I’m looking for a job.
Words in this phrase
仕事
shigoto
[shee-goh-toh]
work; job; occupation
The thing you do as your job; combined with をしています = ‘do (as work)’.
どんな仕事をしていますか。
What kind of work do you do?
を
o
[oh]
object marker (marks what is acted on)
を marks the direct object of the verb (what you do). In speech it’s pronounced ‘o’.
仕事をしています。
I’m working / I have a job.
していますか
shi te i masu ka
do you do? / are you doing?
Polite question form of しています. Often used to ask what someone does for a living.
今、何をしていますか。
What are you doing now?
Words in this phrase
し
shi
[shee]
do (polite, as part of ‘〜しています’)
し comes from する; together with ています it forms ‘am doing’.
仕事をしています。
I’m working.
て
te
[teh]
(te-form marker)
Connects to いる to form 〜ている (continuous).
仕事をしていますか。
Are you working?
い
i
[ee]
to be; to exist (for living things)
い is from いる; in 〜ています indicates ongoing action/state.
いま仕事をしています。
I’m working now.
ます
masu
[mahss]
(polite verb ending)
ます makes it polite; common for asking about someone’s job.
どんな仕事をしていますか。
What kind of work do you do?
か
ka
[kah]
question marker; ‘?’
か makes the sentence a question in polite speech.
どんな仕事をしていますか。
What kind of work do you do?
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