Breakdown of Aufgrund des hohen Zinses ist die Finanzierung teuer.
sein
to be
teuer
expensive
hoch
high
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
aufgrund
due to
der Zins
the interest
die Finanzierung
the financing
Questions & Answers about Aufgrund des hohen Zinses ist die Finanzierung teuer.
The lesson is about changing obwohl clauses into phrases with trotz. How does aufgrund fit into this topic?
It uses the exact same grammatical mechanism, just for a different meaning! Just as trotz is the prepositional equivalent for an obwohl (although) clause, aufgrund is the prepositional equivalent for a causal weil or da (because) clause. For example, the clause Weil der Zins hoch ist transforms perfectly into the noun phrase Aufgrund des hohen Zinses.
Why do we use des hohen Zinses here?
The preposition aufgrund requires the Genitive case. Since der Zins (the interest) is a masculine noun, the definite article changes to des, the adjective hoch takes the standard '-en' ending for the Genitive, and the noun itself gets the '-es' ending.
Why does the verb ist come immediately after Zinses?
German sentences follow the V2 rule, meaning the conjugated verb must be in the second position of the main clause. Even though Aufgrund des hohen Zinses contains four words, it acts as a single grammatical block occupying position one. Therefore, the verb ist must immediately follow it to take position two.
Could I use wegen instead of aufgrund here?
Yes, wegen des hohen Zinses means exactly the same thing. Aufgrund tends to sound a bit more formal and is heavily used in business, legal, or journalistic contexts, which fits the topic of finance perfectly.
I usually see interest written as die Zinsen in plural. Why is it singular here?
Both are common! In financial contexts, the singular der Zins often refers to the interest rate or the general concept of interest, while the plural die Zinsen usually refers to the actual money paid or earned. Here, aufgrund der hohen Zinsen (plural) would also be completely correct.
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