Он профессионал своего дела.

He is a professional at what he does.

Breakdown of Он профессионал своего дела.

• он: he
• профессионал: the professional
• свой: his own
• дело: the business

Questions & Answers about Он профессионал своего дела.

Why is дела in the genitive case and what governs that?

Russian often expresses “professional of what?” with the genitive. In профессионал своего дела, чего? → дела. The genitive shows possession/specification: своего дела means “of one’s own field.”

How would you translate профессионал своего дела literally and idiomatically?

Literally, it’s professional of one’s own thing. Idiomatically, it means a professional in his (or her) field or simply a true professional.

Why is своего used instead of его?

свой is the reflexive possessive pronoun referring back to the subject (он). его (his) is grammatically possible but less natural here and might imply someone else’s field, not the subject’s own expertise.

How do you pronounce профессионал своего дела? Where are the stress marks?

– профессиона́л (stress on the final -ал)
– свое́го (stress on the е of своего)
– дела́ (stress on the ла).

So: про-фес-си-о-на́л сво-е́-го де-ла́.

Why are there no articles (a/the) in this sentence?

Russian has no articles. Definiteness or indefiniteness is inferred from context. Он профессионал своего дела covers both “He’s a professional in his field” and “He’s the professional in his field.”

Why use the noun профессионал instead of the adjective профессиональный?

профессионал is the noun “professional.” If you use профессиональный, you must modify another noun (e.g., профессиональный врач = a professional doctor). The idiom is Он профессионал + своего дела.

Can I use this phrase for a woman?

Yes. Simply change Он to Она: Она профессионал своего дела. The noun профессионал is common gender. Some speakers colloquially say профессионалка, but она профессионал своего дела is neutral and widely accepted.