Salary / Wage (Wages) / Income
Why do we need three separate words?
The article was posted: | 3 min read
'Income' is a general term, meaning 'the amount of money you get for something' (прибуток). You can get money for the work you've done, earn interest from your investments, or even rob a bank or mug someone. All these fall under the criteria of 'income'.
'Salary' is the amount of money you get on a regular basis, not depending on the number of days or hours spent working. If you take a day off, it doesn't affect your salary, but it does affect your wages. Alternatively, you can slack off, drink coffee, and gossip with your colleagues, and that doesn't reduce your salary (unless you are fined).
'Wages' is usually used in the plural. It is the amount of money you get for your work, connected with time. The more hours you work, the more money you earn, and vice versa. Wages can be paid hourly, daily, or weekly. There is also a common expression—a 'minimum wage' (мінімальна заробітна плата)—meaning the lowest amount of money that your boss can legally pay you.
Note! In the USA, salary is calculated per year, not per month as it is in Ukraine. So, when answering the desired salary in your job interview, don’t forget to multiply it by 12.
P.S. 'How much money do you make?'—Asking somebody about their salary is a rude question, don't do that unless it's a person close to you.
Over a third of their income is from comedy videos on YouTube. Понад третина їхнього доходу йде з гумористичних відео на YouTube. He cannot support his family on his income. Він не має можливості утримувати свою родину зі свого доходу. My salary is paid into my bank account at the end of the month. Моя зарплата заходить на мій банківський рахунок у кінці місяця. She earns a high salary as an accountant. Вона, як бухгалтер, отримує високу заробітну плату. On Friday afternoon the men are paid their wages. Ці чоловіки отримують свою зарплату по п'ятницях пообіді. He was working shifts at the factory and earning good wages. Він працював по змінах на фабриці та заробляв непогані гроші. (Тут ми використовуємо wages, тому що оплата йде за кількість робочих змін, не за місяць взагалі) Henry Ford paid his workers above average wages. Генрі Форд платив своїм працівникам заробітну плату понад середньої. (Оплата була погодинна) The urban/rural gap goes well beyond wages. Прірва між містами та селами пролягає значно далі, ніж у доходах.