Learn Spanish (Spain): Me dedico al teatro.

Me dedico al teatro.

I work in the theatre.

Breakdown of Me dedico al teatro.

to the (m)

el teatro

the theater

to me / myself (reflexive) / me (direct object)

dedicarse

to do for a living

Questions & Answers about Me dedico al teatro.

Why does me dedico mean "I work"? I thought the verb for work was trabajo.

You can definitely use trabajo, but the verb dedicarse (literally "to dedicate oneself") is a very common way in Spanish to talk about your profession or what you do for a living. Saying Me dedico al teatro is like saying "My profession is theater" or "I am in the theater business."

Why is there a me at the beginning of the sentence?

The verb used here is dedicarse (to dedicate oneself). The me is a pronoun that means "myself." So literally, you are saying "I dedicate myself to the theater."

Why use al instead of en el if the English translation says "in the" theater?

In English we say we work "in" an industry, but the Spanish verb dedicarse is always followed by the preposition a (to). Since the word for theater is el teatro, the preposition a and the word el (the) combine to make the single contraction al.

Does teatro just mean the physical building, or the whole profession?

It means both! Just like in English, teatro can refer to the physical building where you see a play, or it can refer to the whole industry, art form, or profession of stage acting.