Verdienen Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
How do you actually use verdienen — “to earn” — in a real sentence? This page shows you: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue, the mistakes learners make most often with this verb, and a quiz to test yourself. Every German form on this page comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for verdienen. Start with the simplest sentence: “Er verdient viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “He earns a lot of money as a teacher.”
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for verdienen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Verdienen in real sentences
Twelve sentences with verdienen, covering the present, the Präteritum, the Perfekt, the Plusquamperfekt, the future, Konjunktiv I and II, and the imperative. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.
- “Ich verdiene viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “I earn a lot of money as a teacher.”
- “Du verdienst viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “You earn a lot of money as a teacher.”
- “Er verdient viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “He earns a lot of money as a teacher.”
- “Ich verdiente viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “I earned a lot of money as a teacher.”
- “Wir verdienten viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “We earned a lot of money as a teacher.”
- “Ich habe viel Geld als Lehrer verdient.” — “I have earned a lot of money as a teacher.”
- “Du hast viel Geld als Lehrer verdient.” — “You have earned a lot of money as a teacher.”
- “Ich hatte viel Geld als Lehrer verdient.” — “I had earned a lot of money as a teacher.”
- “Wir werden viel Geld als Lehrer verdienen.” — “We will earn a lot of money as a teacher.”
- “Ich werde viel Geld als Lehrer verdient haben.” — “I will have earned a lot of money as a teacher.”
- “Es ist wichtig, dass ich viel Geld als Lehrer verdiene.” — “It is important that I earn a lot of money as a teacher.”
- “Ich verdiente viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “I would earn a lot of money as a teacher if I could.”
- “Ich hätte viel Geld als Lehrer verdient.” — “I would have earned a lot of money as a teacher if I had been able to.”
- “Verdien viel Geld als Lehrer!” — “Earn a lot of money as a teacher!”
A short dialogue with verdienen
Anna and Ben talk about their plans. Every form of verdienen in the dialogue comes from the verified tables — read it aloud, changing the person each time.
Anna: “Du verdienst viel Geld als Lehrer?” — “You earn a lot of money as a teacher?”
Ben: “Ich verdiene viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “I earn a lot of money as a teacher.”
Anna: “Du hast viel Geld als Lehrer verdient?” — “You have earned a lot of money as a teacher?”
Ben: “Ich habe viel Geld als Lehrer verdient.” — “I have earned a lot of money as a teacher.”
Anna: “Du wirst viel Geld als Lehrer verdienen?” — “You will earn a lot of money as a teacher?”
Ben: “Ich werde viel Geld als Lehrer verdienen.” — “I will earn a lot of money as a teacher.”
Anna: “Verdien viel Geld als Lehrer!” — “Earn a lot of money as a teacher!”
Ben: “Ich verdiene viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “I earn a lot of money as a teacher.”
Notice how the verb changes with the person and the tense while the meaning stays the same: verdiene, verdienst, habe verdient, werde verdienen. If you can follow this dialogue without looking at the tables, you know verdienen well enough to use it.
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich verdienen viel Geld als Lehrer.”
✓ Right: “Ich verdiene viel Geld als Lehrer.”
The infinitive verdienen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form verdiene.
2. Confusing verdienen with sparen
✗ Wrong: “Ich sparen viel Geld als Lehrer.” (using the wrong verb)
✓ Right: “Ich verdiene viel Geld als Lehrer.”
verdienen means “to earn”; sparen means “to save”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Applying the regular pattern to verdienen
✗ Wrong: “Ich habe viel Geld als Lehrer geverdient.” (a guessed regular participle)
✓ Right: “Ich habe viel Geld als Lehrer verdient.”
verdienen is irregular in present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. Its past participle is verdient, not the regular ge- + stem + -t form.
4. Using the indicative after a Konjunktiv I trigger
✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass du viel Geld als Lehrer verdienst.”
✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass du viel Geld als Lehrer verdienest.”
After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I, so use verdienest here, not the indicative verdienst.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the ich form of verdienen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) verdienst
- B) verdiene
- C) verdient
- D) verdienen
What is the er/sie/es form of verdienen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) verdiene
- B) verdient
- C) verdienst
- D) verdienen
What is the du form of verdienen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) verdienten
- B) verdientet
- C) verdiente
- D) verdientest
What is the wir form of verdienen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) haben verdient
- B) habe verdient
- C) hat verdient
- D) hast verdient
What is the ich form of verdienen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wird verdienen
- B) werdet verdienen
- C) wirst verdienen
- D) werde verdienen
What is the du form of verdienen in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) verdienten
- B) verdiente
- C) verdientet
- D) verdientest
What is the ich form of verdienen in the Conditional perfect?
- A) hätte verdient
- B) hättest verdient
- C) hättet verdient
- D) hätten verdient
What is the past participle of verdienen?
- A) verdienend
- B) verdient
- C) verdiente
- D) verdiene
What is the present participle of verdienen?
- A) werde verdienen
- B) verdiene
- C) verdienend
- D) verdient
What does verdienen mean in English?
- A) to save
- B) to earn
- C) to come
- D) to do
Answer key
- B) verdiene — the ich form of verdienen in the present tense is verdiene.
- B) verdient — the er/sie/es form of verdienen in the present tense is verdient.
- D) verdientest — the du form of verdienen in the preterite is verdientest.
- A) haben verdient — the wir form of verdienen in the Perfekt is haben verdient.
- D) werde verdienen — the ich form of verdienen in the Futur I is werde verdienen.
- D) verdientest — the du form of verdienen in the Konjunktiv II is verdientest.
- A) hätte verdient — the ich form of verdienen in the conditional perfect is hätte verdient.
- B) verdient — the past participle of verdienen is verdient; perfect tenses use haben + verdient.
- C) verdienend — the present participle of verdienen is verdienend.
- B) to earn — verdienen means “to earn” in English.
Frequently asked questions
What does verdienen mean in English?
verdienen means “to earn”. The examples above show it in everyday situations — for example, “Er verdient viel Geld als Lehrer.” (“He earns a lot of money as a teacher.”).
Is verdienen regular or irregular?
verdienen is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The full tables are on the conjugation page.
How do I use verdienen in the Perfekt?
Use haben + the past participle verdient: “Ich habe viel Geld als Lehrer verdient.” — “I have earned a lot of money as a teacher.” The full Perfekt table is on the conjugation page.
Related pages
- verdienen conjugation — the full conjugation tables for this verb in every tense.
- verdienen in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in one tense.
- German verbs — the full hub of German conjugation pages.
- German irregular verbs — every common irregular German verb, grouped by pattern.
- Einladen conjugation — another German verb to practise with.
- Treffen conjugation — another German verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise verdienen with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise verdienen with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise the present tense with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.