tjäna carries two meanings that English keeps in separate verbs: "to earn" (money) and "to serve" (a country, a purpose, a master). The thread between them is old — tjäna originally meant "to serve," and "earning" grew out of "earning through service." Today both senses are fully alive, and which one is meant is always clear from context. It is a regular Group 1 verb.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Preteritum (past) | Supine | Imperative | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tjäna | tjänar | tjänade | tjänat | tjäna | Group 1 |
Regular Group 1: present tjänar, past tjänade, supine tjänat (har tjänat), imperative Tjäna!. The ä is constant in every form — don't drop the dots. No vowel change, no subject agreement.
A pronunciation note for the tj- spelling: the initial tj is not a "t" plus "j." It spells the soft sj-adjacent sound — roughly an English "sh"/"ch" hush — so tjäna begins like "shair-na," with no audible "t." This tj- digraph appears in a whole cluster of common words (tjugo "twenty," tjej "girl," tjock "thick"), and getting the hush right immediately marks you as someone who has listened to real Swedish.
The two meanings, "earn" and "serve," are not a coincidence: they descend from a single old sense of rendering service, with "earning" being what you got for your service. English actually shows a faint echo of the same link — think of "this will serve" meaning "this will do / suffice." Holding the older "serve" sense in mind makes the idiom tjäna ett syfte ("serve a purpose") feel natural rather than arbitrary.
Use 1: earn money
The most common everyday sense is "to earn." You tjäna pengar ("earn money") and you tjäna bra / tjäna dåligt ("earn well / badly").
Hon tjänar bra som ingenjör.
She earns well as an engineer. tjäna bra — 'earn well', adverb directly after.
Jag tjänade inte mycket på mitt första jobb.
I didn't earn much at my first job. tjänade — the regular Group 1 past.
Han har tjänat ihop till en lägenhet.
He has earned enough to buy a flat. har tjänat ihop — supine tjänat, particle ihop = 'saved up'.
Hur mycket tjänar man som lärare?
How much do you earn as a teacher? tjäna for salary/income.
Use 2: serve — a country, a cause, a purpose
The older sense, "to serve," survives in tjäna landet ("serve the country"), tjäna ett syfte ("serve a purpose"), and tjäna en herre ("serve a master"). This sense is more formal or literary.
Han tjänade landet i tjugo år. (formal)
He served the country for twenty years. (formal) tjäna = 'serve', the older sense.
Den här regeln tjänar inget syfte längre.
This rule no longer serves any purpose. tjäna ett syfte = 'serve a purpose'.
Man kan inte tjäna två herrar. (literary / biblical)
One cannot serve two masters. (literary / biblical) a fixed proverbial use of tjäna.
Use 3: tjäna på — profit / benefit from
With the preposition på, tjäna på means "to profit from / benefit from" — to come out ahead because of something. It works for money and, figuratively, for advantage of any kind.
Vem tjänar egentligen på det här kriget?
Who actually profits from this war? tjäna på = 'profit/benefit from'.
Du skulle tjäna på att vänta lite till.
You'd benefit from waiting a little longer. tjäna på + att-clause, the figurative 'gain by'.
tjäna vs förtjäna
Watch one more relative: förtjäna means "to deserve / merit" — to be worthy of something — not "to earn money." Han förtjänar en andra chans ("He deserves a second chance"). The two are easy to mix up because English "earn" covers both senses ("earn money" and "earn respect"), but Swedish leans on tjäna for income and förtjäna for what you merit. The overlap is only partial — you can say tjäna respekt too — but if the meaning is purely "deserve," reach for förtjäna.
Hon tjänar mycket pengar, men hon förtjänar varenda krona.
She earns a lot of money, but she deserves every penny. tjäna = earn, förtjäna = deserve, contrasted in one sentence.
The nouns: en tjänst, en tjänare
The noun en tjänst means "a service" or "a favour" (göra någon en tjänst = "do someone a favour"), and also "a post / position" at work. The agent noun en tjänare is "a servant."
Kan du göra mig en tjänst?
Can you do me a favour? en tjänst = 'a favour' here.
Hon fick en fast tjänst på universitetet.
She got a permanent position at the university. en tjänst = 'a post/position'.
Common Mistakes
❌ Hon tjäner bra. (Group 2 ending + missing dots)
Incorrect on two counts — tjäna is Group 1 (present tjänar, not *tjäner), and the ä keeps its dots.
✅ Hon tjänar bra.
She earns well.
❌ Jag tjände inte mycket. (bare -de)
Incorrect — Group 1 takes the full -ade. The past is tjänade, not *tjände.
✅ Jag tjänade inte mycket.
I didn't earn much.
❌ Vem tjänar av det här?
Wrong preposition — it's tjäna på, not *tjäna av, for 'profit/benefit from'.
✅ Vem tjänar på det här?
Who profits from this?
❌ Kan du göra mig en tjäna?
Wrong word class — the noun is en tjänst (a favour/service); tjäna is the verb. göra någon en tjänst.
✅ Kan du göra mig en tjänst?
Can you do me a favour?
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