tjäna

Tjäna is a Swedish verb meaning to earn or to gain, and in older or religious contexts also to serve. In contemporary usage it is most often encountered in the sense of earning money or a living, but it can also mean to yield a result or to be of use.

The verb is of Germanic origin, with cognates in Danish and Norwegian (tjene) and related Old Norse forms meaning to serve. The modern sense of earning money developed from the idea of rendering a service or providing value in exchange for payment.

Common uses include tjäna pengar (to earn money) and tjäna sitt uppehälle (to earn a living). The phrase tjäna på något means to profit from something. The verb can also appear in more general sense of serving or being useful, especially in historical or religious language, e.g., tjäna Gud or tjäna kungen in older contexts.

Conjugation (typical for this class of Swedish verbs): infinitive tjäna; present tjänar; past tjänade; supine tjänat; present participle tjänande. The imperative form is rare in everyday speech. In practice, most present-tense and past-tense sentences usejänar and tjänade respectively.

Examples: Hon tjänar pengar som programmerare. De tjänade mycket pengar när de sålde företaget. Många människor tjänar sin försörjning genom olika former av arbete. Jag hoppas att detta projekt tjänar samhället på lång sikt.