Rente laat die saldo van die spaarrekening groei.

Here laat means lets or makes in a causative sense.

So the pattern is:

• X laat Y groei = X causes Y to grow

In this sentence:

• Rente = interest
• laat = causes / makes
• die saldo van die spaarrekening = the balance of the savings account
• groei = grow

A very natural English gloss is Interest makes the balance of the savings account grow.

Because after laat, Afrikaans usually puts the other verb in its basic form at the end of the clause.

Pattern:

• Subject + laat + object + infinitive

So:

• Rente
  • laat
    • die saldo van die spaarrekening
      • groei

This is similar to English makes the balance grow, where grow also stays in a basic verb form.

After laat, Afrikaans uses a bare infinitive, meaning the verb appears without te.

So you say:

• laat ... groei
• not laat ... te groei

This is like English:

• makes it grow
• not makes it to grow

Because the sentence contains two definite nouns:

1. die saldo = the balance
2. die spaarrekening = the savings account

In van die spaarrekening, die still means the.
So:

• die saldo van die spaarrekening = the balance of the savings account

Also remember that die is the normal definite article in Afrikaans for both singular and plural nouns.

Afrikaans usually expresses of relationships with van.

So:

• die saldo van die spaarrekening = the balance of the savings account

English often prefers the savings account’s balance, but Afrikaans commonly uses van.

Afrikaans can also sometimes use se, for example:

• die spaarrekening se saldo

That also means the savings account’s balance. In this sentence, van die spaarrekening is a perfectly normal choice.

Yes. Afrikaans very often forms compound nouns as one word.

Here:

• spaar = save / saving
• rekening = account

Together:

• spaarrekening = savings account

This is very common in Afrikaans, much like German and Dutch. English often writes these as two words, but Afrikaans usually joins them.

Because rente is being used in a general sense, like a mass or abstract noun: interest in general.

So:

• Rente laat ... groei = Interest makes ... grow

This is similar to English, where you would also normally say Interest rather than The interest if you mean the concept in general.

If you were talking about specific interest, you might phrase things differently depending on context.

Not always, but here it is a very good match.

Saldo is commonly used for a financial balance, especially an account balance or remaining amount.

So in this sentence:

• die saldo van die spaarrekening = the balance of the savings account

In other contexts, English balance can mean physical balance or overall balance between things, and then Afrikaans might use different words depending on the meaning.

Yes. A common alternative is:

• Rente laat die spaarrekening se saldo groei.

That means the same thing: Interest makes the savings account’s balance grow.

The difference is mainly structure:

• die saldo van die spaarrekening = the balance of the savings account
• die spaarrekening se saldo = the savings account’s balance

Both are natural Afrikaans.

A useful breakdown is:

• Rente = subject
• laat = finite verb
• die saldo van die spaarrekening = object
• groei = infinitive complement

So the core pattern is:

• Something causes something else to grow

More abstractly:

• A laat B groei

This is a very helpful pattern to learn, because you can reuse it with many verbs:

• Die son laat die plante groei. = The sun makes the plants grow.
• Oefening laat jou sterker word. = Exercise makes you become stronger.

So this sentence is a good example of a common Afrikaans causative structure.