"What is your profession?"
Translation:Was ist dein Beruf?
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598
Yes, that's very good.
"Was bist du von Beruf ?" is almost okay, but just a bit too formal when you say "Du" to each other.
"Was ist dein Beruf?" is just acceptable, but you won't hear it very often, it sounds a bit queer.
955
I just tried this and had it rejected, but 'Was macht sie von Beruf?' was accepted on a previous question 'What is her profession?' I don't understand!
2128
According to me "Arbeit", just like "work" in English, is what you do, not even always professionally: Homework (Hausaufgabe) or studying is Arbeit, chores or housework are Arbeit, gardening is Arbeit, any task is Arbeit…
A profession, as well as "ein Beruf", is what you do to pay your bills, or at least what you learnt to earn your living, if you're unemployed.
You (normally) work in your profession, but not all work is professional.
And remember, all nouns are capitalised in German :o)
sfuspvwf npj
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why can't I say, "was ist ihre beruf?"
You can't use ihre (her / their), because the question asked for your profession and not her profession or their profession.
The word beruf does not exist in German.
"Your profession" can be dein Beruf or euer Beruf or Ihr Beruf, depending on how many people you are talking to and how well you know them. der Beruf is masculine so the possessive determiner will have no ending.
dein, deine means "your", as in dein Buch = your book, deine Mutter = your mother
du means "you"
diene means "serve; am serving", as in ich diene dem König = I serve the king.
is the term du considered slang and the term dein considered proper.
Both are proper; they simply mean different things -- like "your" and "you" in English.