Verdienen Conjugation in German

verdienen means “to earn” in English, and it is a verb German learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of verdienen — every tense, every person, the participles and the infinitive — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Er verdient viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “He earns a lot of money as a teacher.” Learning the forms on this page first, before you try to use the verb in conversation, saves you from guessing later: German endings change with the person and the tense, and verdienen is no exception. Work through the tables one tense at a time, say each form aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: verdienen
  • English: to earn
  • Verb type: Weak verb
  • Irregular in: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative
  • Present participle (Partizip I): verdienend
  • Past participle (Partizip II): verdient
  • Auxiliary: haben (all perfect tenses are formed with haben + the past participle)

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.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for verdienen. Learn the present tense first, then the Perfekt and the Präteritum, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.

Present (Präsens)

Person Form
ich verdiene
du verdienst
er/sie/es verdient
wir verdienen
ihr verdient
sie/Sie verdienen

Preterite (Präteritum)

Person Form
ich verdiente
du verdientest
er/sie/es verdiente
wir verdienten
ihr verdientet
sie/Sie verdienten

Perfect (Perfekt)

Person Form
ich habe verdient
du hast verdient
er/sie/es hat verdient
wir haben verdient
ihr habt verdient
sie/Sie haben verdient

Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)

Person Form
ich hatte verdient
du hattest verdient
er/sie/es hatte verdient
wir hatten verdient
ihr hattet verdient
sie/Sie hatten verdient

Future (Futur I)

Person Form
ich werde verdienen
du wirst verdienen
er/sie/es wird verdienen
wir werden verdienen
ihr werdet verdienen
sie/Sie werden verdienen

Future perfect (Futur II)

Person Form
ich werde verdient haben
du wirst verdient haben
er/sie/es wird verdient haben
wir werden verdient haben
ihr werdet verdient haben
sie/Sie werden verdient haben

Konjunktiv I

Person Form
ich verdiene
du verdienest
er/sie/es verdiene
wir verdienen
ihr verdienet
sie/Sie verdienen

Konjunktiv II

Person Form
ich verdiente
du verdientest
er/sie/es verdiente
wir verdienten
ihr verdientet
sie/Sie verdienten

Conditional perfect

Person Form
ich hätte verdient
du hättest verdient
er/sie/es hätte verdient
wir hätten verdient
ihr hättet verdient
sie/Sie hätten verdient

Imperative (Imperativ)

Person Form
du verdien
wir verdienen
ihr verdient
sie/Sie verdienen

Participles and infinitive

Form German
Present participle (Partizip I) verdienend
Past participle (Partizip II) verdient
Infinitive verdienen

When to use each tense

Present (Präsens)

The present tense is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With verdienen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ich verdiene viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “I earn a lot of money as a teacher.”

Preterite (Präteritum)

The preterite is used for completed actions in the past, especially in writing and narration. With verdienen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Du verdientest viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “You earned a lot of money as a teacher.”

Perfect (Perfekt)

The Perfekt is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. With verdienen it is formed with haben + the past participle verdient. For example: “Er hat viel Geld als Lehrer verdient.” — “He has earned a lot of money as a teacher.”

Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)

The Plusquamperfekt is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir hatten viel Geld als Lehrer verdient.” — “We had earned a lot of money as a teacher.”

Future (Futur I)

The Futur I is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Ihr werdet viel Geld als Lehrer verdienen.” — “You will earn a lot of money as a teacher.”

Future perfect (Futur II)

The Futur II is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Sie werden viel Geld als Lehrer verdient haben.” — “They will have earned a lot of money as a teacher.”

Konjunktiv I

The Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich viel Geld als Lehrer verdiene.” — “It is important that I earn a lot of money as a teacher.”

Konjunktiv II

The Konjunktiv II is used for wishes, polite requests and hypothetical situations — it also doubles as the conditional. There is no separate würde tense in the tables: the Konjunktiv II forms below do the work of the conditional, and würde + infinitive is the periphrastic alternative you will hear in speech. For example: “Du verdientest viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “You would earn a lot of money as a teacher if you could.”

Conditional perfect

The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte viel Geld als Lehrer verdient.” — “He would have earned a lot of money as a teacher if he had been able to.”

Imperative (Imperativ)

The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. With verdienen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Verdien viel Geld als Lehrer!” — “Earn a lot of money as a teacher!”

Participles and infinitive

The present participle is verdienend — “while earning” — used as an adjective or adverb. The past participle is verdient, used with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe verdient. The infinitive is verdienen.

Example sentences

Ten natural sentences with verdienen, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.

  1. “Ich verdiene viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “I earn a lot of money as a teacher.”
  2. “Du verdienst viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “You earn a lot of money as a teacher.”
  3. “Er verdiente viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “He earned a lot of money as a teacher.”
  4. “Ich habe viel Geld als Lehrer verdient.” — “I have earned a lot of money as a teacher.”
  5. “Er hatte viel Geld als Lehrer verdient.” — “He had earned a lot of money as a teacher.”
  6. “Wir werden viel Geld als Lehrer verdienen.” — “We will earn a lot of money as a teacher.”
  7. “Ich werde viel Geld als Lehrer verdient haben.” — “I will have earned a lot of money as a teacher.”
  8. “Es ist wichtig, dass ich viel Geld als Lehrer verdiene.” — “It is important that I earn a lot of money as a teacher.”
  9. “Ich verdiente viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “I would earn a lot of money as a teacher if I could.”
  10. “Verdien viel Geld als Lehrer!” — “Earn a lot of money as a teacher!”

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 verdiente viel Geld als Lehrer.” (a guessed regular preterite)

✓ Right: “Ich verdiente viel Geld als Lehrer.”

verdienen is irregular in present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The preterite form for ich is verdiente, not what the regular -te endings would give — learn it as a set.

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.

5. Using the present for a finished past event

✗ Wrong: “Ich verdiene viel Geld als Lehrer.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe viel Geld als Lehrer verdient.”

Yesterday’s finished event needs the Perfekt (habe verdient), not the present.

Quiz: test yourself

  1. What is the ich form of verdienen in the Present (Präsens)?

    • A) verdienst
    • B) verdiene
    • C) verdient
    • D) verdienen

  2. What is the er/sie/es form of verdienen in the Present (Präsens)?

    • A) verdiene
    • B) verdient
    • C) verdienst
    • D) verdienen

  3. What is the ich form of verdienen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?

    • A) verdientest
    • B) verdienten
    • C) verdiente
    • D) verdientet

  4. What is the ich form of verdienen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?

    • A) habe verdient
    • B) hast verdient
    • C) haben verdient
    • D) habt verdient

  5. What is the wir form of verdienen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?

    • A) hatten verdient
    • B) hattet verdient
    • C) hattest verdient
    • D) hatte verdient

  6. What is the du form of verdienen in the Future (Futur I)?

    • A) werdet verdienen
    • B) werden verdienen
    • C) wird verdienen
    • D) wirst verdienen

  7. What is the ich form of verdienen in the Future perfect (Futur II)?

    • A) werde verdient haben
    • B) werden verdient haben
    • C) wirst verdient haben
    • D) wird verdient haben

  8. What is the ich form of verdienen in the Konjunktiv II?

    • A) verdiente
    • B) verdienten
    • C) verdientest
    • D) verdientet

  9. What is the past participle of verdienen?

    • A) verdienend
    • B) verdient
    • C) verdiene
    • D) verdiente

  10. What does verdienen mean in English?

  • A) to save
  • B) to earn
  • C) to come
  • D) to do

Answer key

  1. B) verdiene — the ich form of verdienen in the present tense is verdiene.
  2. B) verdient — the er/sie/es form of verdienen in the present tense is verdient.
  3. C) verdiente — the ich form of verdienen in the preterite is verdiente.
  4. A) habe verdient — the ich form of verdienen in the Perfekt is habe verdient.
  5. A) hatten verdient — the wir form of verdienen in the Plusquamperfekt is hatten verdient.
  6. D) wirst verdienen — the du form of verdienen in the Futur I is wirst verdienen.
  7. A) werde verdient haben — the ich form of verdienen in the Futur II is werde verdient haben.
  8. A) verdiente — the ich form of verdienen in the Konjunktiv II is verdiente.
  9. B) verdient — the past participle of verdienen is verdient; perfect tenses use haben + verdient.
  10. B) to earn — verdienen means “to earn” in English.

Frequently asked questions

What does verdienen mean in English?

verdienen means “to earn”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Er verdient viel Geld als Lehrer.” (“He earns a lot of money as a teacher.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.

Is verdienen regular or irregular?

verdienen is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The present participle is verdienend and the past participle is verdient.

What are the participles of verdienen?

The present participle is verdienend and the past participle is verdient — use it with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe verdient.

What is the difference between verdienen and sparen?

verdienen means “to earn”, while sparen means “to save”. They are easy to mix up because they appear in similar situations, but their meanings are different. If you are unsure, check the full conjugation page for sparen and compare the meanings in context.

How do I say “I earn” in German?

Say “Er verdient viel Geld als Lehrer.” — “He earns a lot of money as a teacher.” The ich form of the present is verdiene, and it is the form you will use most often.

How to learn verdienen

Start with the present tense: verdiene, verdienst, verdient, verdienen, verdient, verdienen. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the Perfekt — habe verdient — and the Präteritum — verdiente. Next, learn the future (werde verdienen) and the Konjunktiv II (verdiente), which also does the work of the conditional. Finally, tackle Konjunktiv I (verdiene) and the imperative (verdien). Write one sentence of your own in each tense, using the examples above as models, and check every form against the tables. When you can produce all six persons of the present without looking, move on to the quiz.

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