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### Working As: Lavorare come

When discussing your job—or perhaps your cover identity for espionage—you have two main options in Italian. The first is the verb **lavorare** (to work) followed by **come** (as). 

When using **lavorare come**, drop the article. State the profession directly after the word *come* without any definite or indefinite article (**il**, **la**, **un**, etc.).

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### Acting As: Fare

The second, and very common, way to state a profession uses the verb **fare** (to do/make). 

Unlike *lavorare come*, when you use **fare** to state a job, you *must* include a definite article (**il**, **la**, **lo**, **l'**) before the profession. It translates literally to "doing the [profession]."

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### Perfecting Your Cover

Both structures mean the same thing and are used interchangeably in daily conversation. When crafting an alias (**uno pseudonimo**) or acting as a frontman (**il prestanome**), you can confidently use either pattern: **lavorare come** + [profession] or **fare** + [article] + [profession].

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Stating professions (fare vs. lavorare come)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
unsuspected / unsuspected person	insospettabile
espionage	lo spionaggio
librarian	il bibliotecario
cover / cover identity	la copertura
That unsuspected man dedicates himself to espionage and works as a librarian to maintain his cover.	Quell'uomo insospettabile si dedica allo spionaggio e lavora come bibliotecario per mantenere la sua copertura.
fictitious / fake (made up, dummy)	fittizio
accountant (bookkeeper)	il contabile
She created a fictitious company and now acts as the accountant without getting noticed.	Ha creato un'azienda fittizia e ora fa la contabile senza farsi notare.
diplomat	il diplomatico
pseudonym / alias	lo pseudonimo
to disguise / to camouflage	camuffare
He works as a diplomat using a pseudonym to disguise his true identity.	Lavora come diplomatico usando uno pseudonimo per camuffare la sua vera identità.
frontman / straw man	il prestanome
To disguise the secret, he acted as a frontman for years before leaving.	Per camuffare il segreto, ha fatto il prestanome per anni prima di andarsene.
In espionage, an unsuspected person often works as a mechanic or as a waiter.	Nello spionaggio, una persona insospettabile lavora spesso come meccanico oppure come cameriere.
The frontman works as an accountant for this fictitious company.	Il prestanome lavora come contabile per questa società fittizia.
As a cover she used a pseudonym and acted as a journalist without saying anything.	Come copertura ha usato uno pseudonimo e ha fatto la giornalista senza dire niente.
The diplomat left suddenly, tired of acting as a librarian in secret.	Il diplomatico se n'è andato all'improvviso, stanco di fare il bibliotecario in segreto.
They created a fake job, so I work as a doctor as a cover.	Hanno creato un lavoro fittizio, quindi faccio il medico come copertura.
She works as a teacher to disguise her unsuspected espionage activities.	Lavora come insegnante per camuffare le sue insospettabili attività di spionaggio.
I don't want to work as an accountant with a pseudonym, nor act as a frontman.	Non voglio lavorare come contabile con uno pseudonimo, né fare il prestanome.