Deutsch · B2 · vocabulary · 4 minutes
Business and economics
Distinguish revenue, profit, costs, investment, hiring, and market share.
Understand the choice
Economic language must separate money coming in from money remaining after expenses. Umsatz is sales revenue, Gewinn the surplus; investment, hiring, growth, and competition describe different strategic levers.
Core rule: Umsatz erzielen, Gewinn erwirtschaften, Kosten senken, investieren in, Personal einstellen, and Marktanteile gewinnen are business collocations.
Notice it in context
Trotz steigender Kosten plant das Unternehmen, weiter zu investieren und Personal einzustellen.
Despite rising costs, the company plans to continue investing and hire staff.
Trotz governs genitive steigender Kosten; plant introduces zu-infinitives; einzustellen inserts zu into separable einstellen.
Der Umsatz wächst, aber der Gewinn sinkt wegen höherer Kosten.
Revenue is growing, but profit is falling because of higher costs.
Umsatz and Gewinn contrast inflow and remainder; Kosten explain the change.
Starker Wettbewerb zwingt die Firma, ihren Marktanteil durch Investitionen zu sichern.
Strong competition forces the company to secure its market share through investments.
Wettbewerb, Marktanteil, and Investitionen form pressure, goal, and means.
What to remember
- Unternehmen and Firma both mean company; Unternehmen is often more formal.
- Personal is a collective noun for staff and has no ordinary plural here.
Common trap: Do not translate Umsatz as profit; Umsatz is revenue before costs.