Onze kosten zijn erg hoog.

to be

Breakdown of Onze kosten zijn erg hoog.

• onze: our
• erg: very
• hoog: high
• de kosten: the costs

Questions & Answers about Onze kosten zijn erg hoog.

Why is onze used instead of ons?

Dutch has two forms for the possessive “our”: onze and ons.
Use onze before all plural nouns (regardless of gender) and before singular “de-words.” Use ons only before singular “het-words.” Since kosten is plural, you must use onze.

Why is kosten plural here? Does a singular kost exist?

Yes, there is a singular kost, but it’s rare and usually refers to “tuition” or “board and lodging.” In everyday Dutch you always talk about kosten in the plural when you mean “expenses” or “costs.”

Why does the sentence use zijn (“to be”) instead of hebben (“to have”)? In English we say “we have high costs.”

Dutch allows both constructions:

• Onze kosten zijn erg hoog. (The costs are very high.)
• We hebben hoge kosten. (We have high costs.)
  The first uses the verb zijn plus a predicative adjective; the second uses hebben plus a noun phrase. Both are correct, but the original focuses on the state of the costs themselves.

Why isn’t hoog inflected to hoge in zijn erg hoog?

In Dutch, adjectives used predicatively (after zijn, worden, etc.) remain uninflected:
Onze kosten zijn erg hoog.
If you use the adjective attributively (directly before a noun), you do add -e when required:
We hebben erg hoge kosten.

What’s the difference between the intensifiers erg, zeer, and heel?

All three can mean “very,” but differ in style and collocation:

• erg is neutral and very common in speech.
• zeer is more formal or written.
• heel is informal and frequent in conversation.
  You can say Onze kosten zijn zeer hoog (formal) or Onze kosten zijn heel hoog (casual) with the same basic meaning.

Where does the adverb erg go? Could I say Onze kosten erg zijn hoog?

No. Dutch places degree adverbs (like erg, zeer, heel) directly before the adjective they modify:
Onze kosten zijn erg hoog.
You cannot split them or move them after the verb: Onze kosten erg zijn hoog is ungrammatical.

Can I rephrase it as We hebben erg hoge kosten? What changes then?

Yes. We hebben erg hoge kosten uses hebben + noun phrase. Notice hoge now takes -e because it’s attributive (before kosten). The nuance shifts from “the costs themselves are high” to “we incur high costs,” but in practice both are interchangeable.