Meaning & use
turning a profit
Last updated
“turning a profit” is a form of “turn a profit”.
Meaning
phraseidiom
making more money than you spend; earning a financial gain
Grammar: Used as a noun phrase (gerund) or after auxiliary verbs. The base form is 'turn a profit'; it often follows 'start', 'keep', 'struggle to'.
Patterns
- turning a profit on something
- turning a profit from something
- start turning a profit
- struggle to turn a profit
The new bakery is finally turning a profit after two years.
They are not turning a profit on that product line yet.
Turning a profit in the first year is rare for small businesses.
Word forms
| base form | turn a profit |
|---|---|
| third person singular | turns a profit |
| past tense | turned a profit |
| past participle | turned a profit |
| -ing form | turning a profit |
Common combinations
- start turning a profit
- The startup hopes to start turning a profit by next year.
- struggle to turn a profit
- Many farms struggle to turn a profit in dry years.
- turn a profit on something
- They turned a profit on the concert tickets.
- turn a quick profit
- He bought the house to turn a quick profit.
Synonyms and how they differ
- make a profit
- More common in everyday speech; 'turn a profit' is slightly more formal and often used in business writing.
- be in the black
- Means your account shows a positive balance; it is a broader financial state, not just one transaction.
- profit
- As a verb, 'profit' is formal and usually means to benefit, not just to make money.
Opposites
Word family
- profit noun
- The money you gain after costs are paid.
- profitable adjective
- Making money; successful financially.
- profitably adverb
- In a way that makes money.
Commonly confused: turning a profit or prophet?
turning a profit vs prophet
A person who predicts the future; it sounds similar to 'profit' but has a completely different meaning.
Practice
After three years of losses, the company is finally ______ a profit.
Choose one answer.
'Turning a profit' is the standard idiom. 'Making a profit' is also correct, but 'turning' is the fixed verb in this phrase. 'Doing a profit' and 'taking a profit' are not natural English.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “turning a profit”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.