Occupations in Yoruba
You have once again come to one of the most important building blocks of the Yoruba language, Yoruba Nouns!
This time the specific Yoruba Nouns that you will be looking at are Occupations. Knowing occupations in Yoruba will afford you the ability to talk about a huge amount of things with ease, so in today’s lesson you are going to be shown a list of over 30 occupations in Yoruba.
Don’t be stressed about the quantity of Yoruba occupations you are going to learn, I don’t expect you to learn all these occupations in one day! They are more a point of reference for you if anything.
Want to start the Yoruba lessons from the beginning?
Occupations
| Yoruba | English |
| Agbẹjọ́rò | Lawyer |
| Oníṣègùn / Dókítà | Doctor |
| Àgbẹ̀ | Farmer |
| Apòògùn | Pharmacist |
| Oníṣẹ́ abẹ | Surgeon |
| Ìyá Àbíyè | Midwife |
| Dókítà eyín | Dentist |
| Dókítà ojú | Optometrist |
| Dókítà ọmọdé | Pediatrician |
| Dókítà olùtọ́jú obìnrin | Gynecologist |
| Dókítà ẹsẹ̀ | Podiatrist |
| Adájọ́ | Judge |
| Alágbẹ̀dẹ | Blacksmith |
| Alápatà | Butcher |
| Akọ̀wé | Secretary |
| Awakọ̀ | Driver |
| Daran-daran | Sheperd |
| Ẹlẹ́ran | Meat seller |
| Olùkọ́ | Teacher |
| Onídìrí | Hair braider |
| Pẹjapẹja | Fisherman |
| Ọlọ́pàá | Police officer |
| Ọdẹ | Hunter |
| Oníṣòwò | Trader |
| Oníròyìn | Journalist |
| Ọ̀jọ̀gbọ́n | Professor |
| Olorì | Queen |
| Olóyè | Chief |
| Aṣẹ̀rọ / Ẹnjiníà | Engineer |
| Akẹ́kọ̀ọ́ oníyè | Biologist |
| Olórin / Akọrin | Singer |
| Atẹ́rọṣe | Mechanic |
| Afági | Carpenter |
| Onímọ̀-jìnlẹ̀ | Scientist |
| Agbọ́-ónjẹ | Chef |
How to say your occupation in Yoruba
To say your occupation in Yoruba you can use the following sentence format:
Mo + jẹ́ + occupation
Jẹ́ means is, this might be quite confusing as you have already come across two other forms of the word is wà and ni. Just to reiterate, Yoruba has at least three forms of the word is and I will give you a general rule of thumb to remember when to use each one.
How to use the word is in Yoruba
Wà is usually used when talking about a location see example
Jẹ́ is usually used for occupation (and a couple other things)
Ni is used for almost everything else
Now back to occupations
How to say your occupation in Yoruba using the word jẹ́
Mo + jẹ́ + occupation
I + am + a occupation
Example sentences with occupations in Yoruba
| Yoruba | English |
| Mo jẹ́ akẹ́kọ̀ọ́ | I am a student |
| Mo jẹ́ ọ̀jọ̀gbọ́n | I am a professor |
| Mo jẹ́ akọrin | I am a singer |
| Mo jẹ́ adájọ́ | I am a judge |
How to say ‘not your occupation’ in Yoruba
If someone asks you, “are you a doctor in Yoruba?” and you want to say that you’re not, you will use the negative form of the word jẹ́ which is kì í ṣe.
N + kì í ṣe + occupation
I + am not + a occupation
Instead of the word Mo you can see that the letter N was used for I in the above sentences. N or Mi is the word used used when writing negative sentences in Yoruba instead of the word Mo (see more on this in lesson 6).
Example negative sentences with occupations in Yoruba
| Yoruba | English |
| N kì í ṣe akẹ́kọ̀ọ́ | I am not a student |
| N kì í ṣe ọ̀jọ̀gbọ́n | I am not a professor |
| N kì í ṣe akọrin | I am not a singer |
| N kì í ṣe adájọ́ | I am not a judge |
Pls note that ni can also be used to describe occupations, but for simplicity this article just covered jẹ́. If you would like a post covering how to use ni in occupations, please comment below.
Congratulations! You have completed the occupations lesson in Yoruba.
