Breakdown of Što je ovaj posao?
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
što
what
ovaj
this (m) / ova (f), ovo (n)
posao
job / work
Questions & Answers about Što je ovaj posao?
Why does je come immediately after Što?
The word je (is) is a clitic, which means it is a short, unstressed word. In Croatian, clitics generally must take the second position in a sentence. Since Što (What) is the first word, je naturally locks into that second spot.
We learned ovo means "this". Why does this sentence use ovaj?
Words for "this" must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because posao (job) is a masculine noun, we must use the masculine form ovaj. The word ovo is neuter, used for neuter nouns or when pointing to an unidentified thing.
Doesn't the -o ending make posao a neuter noun?
Usually, nouns ending in -o or -e are neuter, while masculine nouns end in a consonant. However, posao is a common exception. A long time ago it ended in an -l, which slowly changed into an -o sound in modern Croatian. Nouns ending in -ao or -eo are almost always masculine!
Would I use this sentence to ask someone what they do for a living?
No, this is used to ask about a specific job itself, like if you are looking at a job advertisement and wondering what the duties are. To ask someone what they do for work, you would typically ask Što radiš? (What do you do?).