Meaning & use
potential earning power
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountablebusinessfinance
the amount of money someone is likely to be able to earn in the future, based on their skills, education, or situation.
Grammar: Uncountable: used without 'a' or 'an', e.g. 'She has great potential earning power.'
Patterns
- high potential earning power
- increase someone's potential earning power
- potential earning power of something
A college degree can significantly boost your potential earning power.
The report compared the potential earning power of workers in different industries.
She took the job because it offered greater potential earning power in the long run.
Common combinations
- high potential earning power
- Graduates in engineering often have high potential earning power.
- boost potential earning power
- Learning a second language can boost your potential earning power.
- limited potential earning power
- Workers in low-skilled jobs may face limited potential earning power.
- potential earning power of women
- The study examined the potential earning power of women in urban areas.
Synonyms and how they differ
- earning potential
- Earning potential is a more common and slightly shorter way to say the same thing; it is often used in job ads and career advice.
- income potential
- Income potential is similar but can refer to any type of income, not just from work.
Commonly confused: potential earning power or potential earnings?
potential earning power vs potential earnings
Potential earnings refers to the actual money you might earn, while potential earning power refers to your ability or capacity to earn that money.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'potential earning power' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Potential earning power' is uncountable, so it does not take 'a' (option 0) or 'the' (option 3), and it is not used in the plural (option 2). Option 1 correctly uses it without an article.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “potential earning power”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.