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Mi madre es enfermera.

Mi madre es enfermera.
My mother is a nurse.
From Lesson 45:What do you do? (¿a qué te dedicas?)·Spanish (Spain)

Breakdown of Mi madre es enfermera.

ser
to be
mi
my
la madre
the mother
el enfermero
the nurse

Questions & Answers about Mi madre es enfermera.

Why is there no word for "a" before enfermera?
In Spanish, you do not use the words un or una (a or an) when stating someone's profession after the verb ser (to be). You simply say the person is the profession, so the sentence translates literally as "My mother is nurse".
Why do we use es instead of está for a job?
Even though people can change careers, Spanish treats professions as a core part of someone's identity or characteristics, rather than a temporary state. Because of this, we use es (from the verb ser) instead of está (from the verb estar).
Would the word enfermera change if I was talking about my father?
Yes! Nouns for professions change to match the gender of the person. Because madre (mother) is feminine, we use the feminine form enfermera. If you were talking about your father, you would use the masculine form and say Mi padre es enfermero.

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