Profiteren

Profiteren is a Dutch verb meaning to benefit from or to gain from a situation. It is most commonly used with the preposition van, as in profiteren van iets, to indicate the source of the benefit. The term can refer to financial gains, but it is also used for non-financial advantages, such as learning from a experience or advantages arising from favourable conditions. While generally neutral, profiteren can carry a positive tone when people or organizations make constructive use of opportunities, and a negative nuance when it implies taking advantage of others.

Etymology and scope: Profiteren is a loanword of French profiter, which itself derives from Latin proficere meaning to make progress or be advantageous. In Dutch usage, the verb covers a broad range of benefits, from economic profits to personal or strategic gains, and it is widely employed in journalism, business language, and everyday speech.

Grammar and usage: Profiteren is a regular verb. Present tense forms are ik profiteer, jij profiteert, hij profiteert, wij profiteren, jullie profiteren, zij profiteren. The past participle is geprofiteerd, and the perfect tense is formed with hebben: ik heb geprofiteerd van de kans. The standard construction requires profiteren van + noun or clause; there are few fixed expressions that omit the complement, but context may allow ellipsis.

Examples: De onderneming profiteert van subsidie en lagere rentes. Zij profiteert van haar netwerk om een nieuwe samenwerking te starten. We kunnen profiteren van deze periode om te investeren.

See also: benutten, voordeel halen uit, winst maken, misbruik maken van.