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- Topic: German >
- "Ich bezahle die Zinsen."
59 Comments
... an old fashioned way of saying "the rent" (for an apartment, eg) is "Mietzins". But Christian is definitely right with his comment....
bezahlen when you get something for paying (like if you have bought something in the shop); zahlen when you don't get something directly for the payment, if you don't get something material, etc... for taxes, bills, etc. you'd rather say zahlen.
But when you pay the interest of something you don't actually get anything, you are juat paying something you previously owned or received, what's the difference in this sentence then? Or is it wrong?
"Zinsen" doesn't mean "rent". It means "interest". The German for "rent" is "Miete". "Zins" does mean "rent" in Austrian and Swiss German, but the plural is "Zinse".
I am not english native speaker. give me a hint of the situation where I might here this. Is it like: I'm puting money in bank and get each year some additional % for it?
83
When you buy something on a credit card and don't pay it back immediately, you must pay back the money you borrowed and the interest that the bank charges you for the loan.
No, in that case you are receiving interest on your money, you are not paying interest as in this example. When you borrow money you pay interest.
Roman, you borrow money on a credit card. If you don't pay it back at the end of the month, then the credit card company charges you interest on the money you have borrowed.
"bezahlen" is always right and "zahlen" is only the short form of "bezahlen". In a Restaurant I say: "Ich möchte zahlen." In a shop I say for instance: Ich möchte dies bezahlen. Ich möchte die Äpfel bezahlen. Ich möchte alles bezahlen.
If you say what you are paying FOR, than use bezahlen. I am paying for the apple. I bezahle den Apfel.
If Zinsen is a masculine noun, why not "Ich bezahle der Zinsen." but "Ich bezahle die Zinsen."? Thanks! :)
All nouns take "die" in the plural (nominative and accusative), regardless of their gender.
- 1286
interest (usually uncountable, plural interests). http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/interest
Interest rate is a percentage. It is a mathematical/financial concept. Interest is actual money. The bank won't accept a concept when you repay a loan, but it will accept money.
I thought that was singular! Ok so it makes sense now, thanks a lot Christian! :)
Well the "correct answer" given is "I am paying the interest", so it would seem to be fine (given that German verbs use the same form for "I x" as "I am xing"). I'm not sure about the article, but all that does in English is make it a more specific interest rather than just interest in general.
I would like to know about the article because it changes the meaning in English and I suspect it's only here as the "correct" answer because Duolingo is such a stickler for word for word translations.
- 1439
I left off the article in English to see what would happen. It was accepted with a chiding note that I needed the article "the". My question is, would German ever leave the article off?
I wrote "I pay the interests" and I got wrong because in this case I should have written interest (singular). I find this surprising, as I thought there were, by definition, a lot of "interests" to be paid to a Bank. Or is this some specific rule of English (it's not my native language)? Otherwise, I feel my answer should have been accepted, since Zinsen is itself the plural of Zins.
As mentioned above, 'interest' is an uncountable mass noun in English in this case. There are other meanings of 'interest' that are countable, though, so I can have many interests (hobbies), but the bank will only pay a certain amount of interest.
Why not i will pay the interest. What is the difference between what Duo is saying
- 634
In "Tips and notes" Duolingo writes:
Most nouns in German for the plural by appending an ending.
I believe "for" shall be "form".
Regards
I have read somewhere that the present tense in German also means the future, so why can't say "I will pay the interest"? Dank.
Why not: "I am paying interests" if the word in German is in plural? Should I assume that "Der Zins" is never used as "the interest"?? Would a German native speaker help me?? I have already noticed that Der Zins is rent in Austria and in Switzerland
In English, the word "interest" in the financial sense in uncountable. "I am paying interests" is dodgy English.
This has already been explained in this very discussion. Please always read the previous comments.
Actually my question was why you use the plural in German (die Zinsen) for "the interest" instead of "der Zins" which also exists as a word. I am not a German native speaker and I hope you are. Does "der Zins" have other meaning in Germany (I don't care about Austria and Switzerland).
- 338
der Zins is the singular, die Zinsen the plural.
"Ich bezahle die Zinsen" = "I'm paying the interest" - but I'd like to know why the German sentence uses the plural form. Is it implying that "I" am paying the different interest rates on my mortgage, credit card and bank overdraft, or something else?
Confused Brit.
