Meaning & use
job
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
Regular paid work that someone does for an employer.
Grammar: Countable: a job, two jobs; work is the uncountable word.
Patterns
- a job as something
- a job in something
- a job at somewhere
She got a job as a nurse last year.
He lost his job when the factory closed.
I have two part-time jobs.
nouncountable
A particular task or piece of work to be done.
Grammar: Countable: odd jobs; the job is done.
Patterns
- do a job
Painting the fence is a big job.
The plumber finished the job in an hour.
I have a few jobs to do around the house.
nounsingular
A duty or responsibility that belongs to someone.
Grammar: Used with a possessive or the: it's my job to check.
Patterns
- it is someone's job to do something
It's my job to lock up at night.
Keeping the peace is the referee's job.
Word forms
| plural | jobs |
|---|
Common combinations
- full-time job
- She has a full-time job at the bank.
- apply for a job
- He applied for a job at the library.
- do a good job
- You did a good job on the report.
- lose your job
- Many people lost their jobs.
- odd jobs
- He did odd jobs to earn money.
Synonyms and how they differ
- occupation
- Occupation is more formal and used in forms or official descriptions.
- position
- Position refers to a specific post within an organization.
- task
- Task is a single piece of work, without the sense of paid employment.
Opposites
Word family
- jobless adjective
- without work
- jobbing adjective
- doing odd pieces of work for pay
Commonly confused: job or work?
job vs work
Work is uncountable and general, while job is a countable noun for a specific position or task.
Practice
Which sentence uses job correctly?
Choose one answer.
Job is countable, so many jobs works. Much job and a lot of job treat it as uncountable, which is wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “job”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.