German Phrase
Die waren ziemlich teuer.
Meaning
The sentence states that a group of items or a set of things that have already been mentioned cost a lot of money, but not an extreme amount—just noticeably high. The adverb 'ziemlich' softens the statement, making it sound less harsh than 'sehr teuer'.
When to use
Use this phrase after you have bought or evaluated several items and want to comment on their price. It works in casual conversation, in a shop, or when comparing costs of different options.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Diewarenziemlichteuer
Die (pronoun)
Plural demonstrative pronoun or definite article used here as a pronoun meaning 'they' or referring to previously mentioned items.
waren (sein, Präteritum)
Past tense of 'sein' for plural subjects; matches the plural pronoun 'die'.
ziemlich (Adverb)
An adverb meaning 'quite' or 'rather', used to moderate the intensity of the adjective that follows.
teuer (Adjektiv, prädikativ)
Predicative adjective describing the subject; no ending is added because it follows the verb 'sein'.
🗨In Conversation
Wie viel hat das neue Sofa gekostet?
How much did the new sofa cost?
Die waren ziemlich teuer.
They were quite expensive.
✕Common Mistakes
Die war ziemlich teuer.
The verb must agree with the plural subject; use 'waren' instead of singular 'war'.
Die waren ziemlich teurer.
When used predicatively after 'sein', the adjective stays in its base form; do not add the comparative ending.
↔Alternatives
Sie waren ziemlich teuer.
They were quite expensive.
Das war ziemlich teuer.
That was quite expensive.
Sie waren sehr teuer.
They were very expensive.
Die Kosten waren hoch.
The costs were high.
Cultural Tip
In German, speakers often discuss price directly and may use adverbs like 'ziemlich' or 'relativ' to soften a criticism about cost. Avoid overly strong words like 'unverschämt teuer' unless you want to sound very critical. Also, remember that the verb 'sein' must agree with the plural subject, so 'waren' is required, not 'war'.