Be in the red means to be in debt: to spend more than you earn, to owe the bank money or to make a loss. People say it about a personal account (My account is in the red) and about companies. The opposite is be in the black: making a profit, with money to spare, not a bad situation at all.
When would you say be in the red?
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be in the red; be + amount + in the red; go into the red; opposite: be in the black
- After paying for the car repairs, my account was £300 in the red.
- The café was in the red for its first year but now makes a profit.
- Watch your card spending, or you'll go into the red again before payday.
What changed
First versionAfter the holidays my bank account is in minus.
RevisionAfter the holidays my bank account is in the red.
In minus seems to describe a negative balance, but English doesn't use minus like that when talking about money. You need in the red or, for a bank account, overdrawn: My account is overdrawn.
Go into the red describes the moment of change, when you start owing money. Be in the red is the state you're in: We went into the red in March and stayed in the red until summer.
Your turn
The shop finally made a profit this year and is now in the ___.
Show the answer
black — The shop made a profit, so it's in the black. In the red would mean it was still losing money.
Write about a month when you spent more than you earned. Say where the money went and how you got your account back out of the red.
In December my account was in the red because of holiday presents, so I cooked at home all January to get back into the black.
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