Breakdown of Een lage winstmarge is niet ondenkbaar.
zijn
to be
een
a/an
niet
not
laag
low
ondenkbaar
unthinkable
de winstmarge
the profit margin
Questions & Answers about Een lage winstmarge is niet ondenkbaar.
Does niet ondenkbaar mean the same thing as simply saying it is "mogelijk" (possible)?
It means more than just a neutral "possible". Using this double negative (a rhetorical device called litotes) creates a deliberate understatement. By saying a low profit margin is "not unthinkable", the speaker is actually emphasizing that it is a very real, and perhaps likely, risk.
Why is the adjective written as lage instead of laag?
Because winstmarge is a de-word (de marge). When an adjective precedes a de-word with the indefinite article een, it gets an -e ending. Notice the spelling rule at play too: the double 'a' in laag loses a vowel in lage to maintain the long 'a' sound when the syllable becomes open.
How do I know whether a compound noun like winstmarge takes de or het?
The gender of a Dutch compound noun is always determined by its final component. Because the second part is de marge, the entire compound is a de-word. This rule is what dictates the adjective ending (lage) earlier in the sentence.
The word ondenkbaar ends in -baar. What does this suffix do?
The suffix -baar is the Dutch equivalent of the English "-able" or "-ible". It attaches to the verb stem (here, denk from denken, to think) to show that something is capable of undergoing that action. So, denkbaar means "thinkable" or "conceivable", and adding the prefix on- makes it "unthinkable".
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