All German word comparisons · Back to the topic overview
Meaning, sentence patterns and examples
| Word | Core meaning | Typical context | Grammar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gehalt | salary | regular employee pay | das Gehalt; die Gehälter |
| Lohn | wages; pay; reward | payment for work | der Lohn; die Löhne |
| Einkommen | income | overall regular receipts | das Einkommen; die Einkommen |
Gehalt
Meaning and usage: Use Gehalt when referring to an employee's regular salary, commonly expressed per month or year. Bruttogehalt and Nettogehalt distinguish amounts before and after applicable deductions. They describe different figures, so always check the context before comparing them. The same spelling with masculine der Gehalt can refer to a substance's proportion or the intellectual content of a text.
Grammar: For salary, use das Gehalt and plural die Gehälter; Austrian usage also allows der Gehalt. For content or substance, the separate masculine noun has plural die Gehalte. These are not interchangeable meanings simply because their spelling matches.
Mein Gehalt wird am Monatsende überwiesen.
My salary is transferred at the end of the month.
Lohn
Meaning and usage: Use Lohn for payment earned through work. It is especially familiar in references to hourly pay, but it can also be used more broadly. A metaphorical Lohn is a reward or outcome for an effort, without requiring a monetary payment.
Grammar: Masculine: der Lohn, plural die Löhne in the pay sense. Hourly wages can be der Stundenlohn. The reward sense is normally singular. An amount or rate may follow as a phrase; the noun does not itself impose a specific employment category.
Der Lohn wird nach den geleisteten Stunden berechnet.
The wages are calculated according to the hours worked.
Der Erfolg war der Lohn für ihre Ausdauer.
Success was the reward for her persistence.
Einkommen
Meaning and usage: Use Einkommen for the income available or received by a person or household. A salary or wages can contribute to it, and so can other regular receipts, such as rental income. The word alone does not specify gross or net, nor does it establish what counts under a particular tax rule.
Grammar: Neuter: das Einkommen, plural die Einkommen, unchanged in spelling. Das monatliche Einkommen specifies a monthly figure. In von seinem Einkommen leben, von takes dative. Do not add an -s to form the plural.
Zum Einkommen der Familie gehören auch Mieteinnahmen.
The family's income also includes rental receipts.
Overlap and context
Gehalt and Lohn can describe overlapping employment payments, especially in broad or everyday wording. Einkommen changes the scope: it can mean the overall income rather than the name of one payment. When completing an official form, use the form's definitions and requested gross or net amount. This lesson explains vocabulary; it does not settle payroll classifications or tax treatment.
Common mistakes
- Use die Gehälter for several salaries, rather than die Gehalte, which belongs to the substance/content noun.
- Do not assume Einkommen always means take-home salary.
- Remember der Lohn but das Einkommen, and preserve the umlaut in die Löhne.
Memory aid: Salary and wages describe pay for work; income describes the broader total. Keep das Gehalt beside die Gehälter to separate salary from der Gehalt, content.
Try it
Which word best covers a person's salary plus regular rental receipts: Gehalt, Lohn or Einkommen?
Show the answer
Einkommen
It is the broader term. Gehalt and Lohn refer to employment pay, while the stated total includes another source.