Business English

Work and jobs

 Confusing words: job, work
Work and job as nouns and verbs
Work is both a verb and a noun (uncountable); job is mostly used as a noun (countable):

• I’m busy – I have a lot of work. (uncountable noun)

• I have a lot of works.
• I have two jobs – I’m a taxi driver, but I also work as a part-time fireman. (countable
noun)
• I’m a teacher at a nursery. It’s a great job – I love it. (countable noun)
We say go to work, start work, finish work:

• I start work at 8 o’clock every morning.

• I start my job at 8 o’clock every morning.
• I go to work by bus.
• I travel to my job by bus.
• Job is much more specific than work: your job is the name of the work that you do
to earn money. It refers to your particular employment position, such as a teacher,
accountant, builder, manager, etc.:

• I like my job; I’m a teacher.

• My job is a teacher.
• My brother has found a good job as a sales manager at Vodafone.
• I’m looking for a new job. = I’m looking for a new position.
• I’m looking for new work.
• What’s your job, Peter? = What do you do for a living?
• We use work to say talk about the location or who our employer is, NOT to give a
specific description or title:

• John works for Microsoft.

• Elizabeth works for a law firm.
• My job is for a law firm.
• Tony works in London.
• My job is in London.
• As a verb, work can have other meanings, e.g. how a machine
works, meaning how it functions or if it is functioning properly:

• The photocopier isn’t working- it’s broken.

• Do you understand how a car works?
• As a noun, a job can also mean a task, such as repairing
something at home:

• I have a few jobs to do this weekend – I have to paint the fence

and fix the garage door.