Breakdown of Die Zinsen sind derzeit schrecklich niedrig.
sein
to be
der Zins
the interest
derzeit
at the moment
schrecklich
terribly
Questions & Answers about Die Zinsen sind derzeit schrecklich niedrig.
Why is Zinsen plural instead of the singular Zins?
In finance, German usually talks about interest in the plural: die Zinsen. The singular der Zins exists, but it’s rare in everyday speech and often appears in compounds (e.g., der Zinssatz) or specific technical contexts. Even for one account you’d typically say: Die Zinsen auf meinem Konto sind niedrig.
Why do we use the definite article Die here? Could I say just Zinsen sind …?
German often uses the definite article to make general statements about a class or phenomenon. Here, Die Zinsen means “interest rates (in general).” Bare plurals like English “interest rates are …” are uncommon in standard German statements; Zinsen sind … sounds odd in neutral prose. So stick with Die Zinsen sind …
What case is Die Zinsen, and why doesn’t niedrig have an ending?
- Die Zinsen is nominative plural (it’s the subject).
- niedrig is a predicate adjective after the copular verb sein, so it stays uninflected: Die Zinsen sind niedrig.
- If you put the adjective before the noun, you add an ending: die niedrigen Zinsen, mit niedrigen Zinsen (dative plural).
Where can derzeit go in the sentence? Are there other natural positions?