Luxembourgish Grammar List

Keen (kee) and keng negate a noun that would otherwise have en, eng or no article: Ech hu keen Auto. Net negates verbs, adjectives and nouns with the, a name or a possessive: Ech hunn den Auto net.

The du command is the verb stem without an ending or pronoun. It keeps the vowel of the infinitive (Huel! from huelen), and a few verbs are irregular, such as sief from sinn.

The dir form of the verb, said without dir, gives a command to a group: Kommt eran! (Come in!) The same form is the polite command for one person, often with wannechgelift: Setzt Iech, wannechgelift.

Learn the seven days. Use e or en with a day for one particular day, and the small-letter -s form, such as méindes, for something that happens every week.

For some feelings, Luxembourgish uses hunn (to have) with a noun, where English uses be with an adjective: Ech hunn Honger (I'm hungry), Ech hunn Duuscht (I'm thirsty), Ech hunn Angscht (I'm afraid).

A diphthong is a vowel that glides from one sound to another. Luxembourgish has many: ei, äi, éi, ou, au, ie and ue.

At the start of a word or word part, st and sp sound like sht and shp. Inside or at the end of a word they sound as written.

A long a, i, o or u is written once at the end of a word or before one consonant, and doubled before two or more consonants. A short vowel is written once and is usually followed by two consonants.

With a modal verb, the conjugated modal stands in second place and the infinitive closes the clause: Ech kann haut net kommen.

Every noun starts with a capital letter, wherever it is in the sentence. The short article d' stays lowercase, except at the start of a sentence.

Learn the numbers from one to twelve. One changes before a noun (een, eng), and siwen follows the n-rule.

Learn the numbers from thirteen to twenty. Four of them change the vowel of the small number: fofzéng, siechzéng, uechtzéng and nonzéng.

Say numbers above 20 unit first, joined by an: zweeanzwanzeg. The an follows the n-rule inside the word, and the tens are drësseg, véierzeg, fofzeg, sechzeg, siwwenzeg, achtzeg and nonzeg.

Written Luxembourgish follows one set of official spelling rules, published in 2019. The Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire (LOD) shows the standard spelling of each word.

Most feminine nouns and many masculine nouns add -en in the plural. By the n-rule, the ending is written -e before most consonants.

Many neuter nouns and some masculine nouns add -er in the plural. The vowel inside the word often changes too.

Some nouns do not change at all in the plural. Look at the article, a number or the verb to see how many there are.

Some nouns make the plural only by changing the vowel inside the word, with no ending: de Bam and d'Beem.

Dir is the polite way to say you. It uses the same verb form as dir, and it is always written with a capital D.

When an adjective comes after sinn (to be), ginn (to become) or bleiwen (to stay), it takes no ending, whatever the noun is: D'Haus ass grouss, D'Kanner si frou.

Regular verbs add the endings -en, -s, -t, -en, -t, -en to the stem. The ech form looks like the infinitive, and after a stem ending in s, ss, z or x the du form adds nothing.

Luxembourgish uses the Latin alphabet with three extra letter forms: ä, é and ë. It never uses the German ß, so Strooss (street) is written with ss.

Articles, pronouns, short words, verb forms and other words ending in -en drop their final n before most consonants. The n stays before a vowel, before d, h, n, t and z, and before punctuation.

In a main-clause statement, the conjugated verb is always the second element, whatever comes first. Other verb forms, such as an infinitive or a past participle, go to the end.

Luxembourgish has three cases: nominative, accusative and dative. Articles look the same in the nominative and accusative, while the dative has its own forms. Many pronouns change too, such as ech, mech and mir.

Every noun is masculine, feminine or neuter. Learn each noun together with its article, because the gender decides the forms of articles, adjectives and pronouns.

ch has two sounds. After a, o, u and au it is a rough sound at the back of the mouth, like Scottish loch. Everywhere else it is a soft sound close to English sh.

Many common verbs change the stem vowel in the du and hien/si/et forms only: du kënns, hie kënnt; du fiers, hie fiert. The ech, mir, dir and si (they) forms keep the vowel of the infinitive.

Ask Wéi geet et? or Wéi geet et dir?, or politely Wéi geet et Iech?, and answer Et geet mir gutt.

A question that expects yes or no starts with the conjugated verb, followed by the subject: Kënns du muer? Schwätzt Dir Lëtzebuergesch? Answer with jo or nee, and use dach to say yes to a negative question.

An joins words and sentences, like English and. By the n-rule it is written a before most consonants: Brout a Botter, but Kanner an Elteren.

D' means the before feminine nouns, neuter nouns and all plurals. It is joined to the noun with an apostrophe and no space.

In Luxembourgish, first names come with an article. Men's names take den (de by the n-rule), and women's and girls' names take the neuter d': De Paul kënnt, D'Anna schafft. In the dative, both take dem. Leave the article out when you speak to someone directly.

Den means the before a masculine noun, whether the noun is the subject or the object. It becomes de before most consonants.

Däin and deng mean your when you talk to one person you call du. They work like mäin and meng: däi Papp, däin Handy, deng Schwëster, deng Frënn.

Luxembourgish writes its e sounds in several ways: ee for a long e, é before ch, ck, ng, nk and x, ë for a short uh sound, and e or ä for a sound like the a in cat.

Ech, du, hien, si and et are the subject pronouns for one person or thing. Hien becomes hie before most consonants.

Say your name with Ech heeschen, and ask Wéi heeschs du? or politely Wéi heescht Dir?

Use ech hätt gär with a noun to ask politely for something. Gär can also appear as gären or gäre, following the n-rule.

En means a with masculine and neuter nouns, and eng means a with feminine nouns. En becomes e before most consonants.

Weather verbs and time expressions need et as their subject, just like English it: Et reent, Et schneit, Et ass kal, Et ass spéit. Et stays even when another word comes first: Haut reent et.

Et gëtt means there is or there are, and it usually stays singular before a plural noun: Et gëtt vill Leit hei. In a question the verb comes first: Gëtt et hei eng Apdikt?

Use firwat to ask why. The verb follows it directly, and the answer usually starts with well.

Ginn means both to give and to become: ech ginn, du gëss, hie gëtt, mir ginn, dir gitt, si ginn. Ech ginn him e Buch (I give him a book); Hie gëtt Dokter (He is becoming a doctor).

Goen (to go) is irregular: ech ginn, du gees, hie geet, mir ginn, dir gitt, si ginn. Its ech, mir, dir and si forms are the same as those of ginn, so the context shows which verb is meant.

Add gär to a verb to say that you like doing it, and use gär hunn to like or love a person or thing.

Hatt means she when you talk about a woman or girl by her first name. It is neuter, like the article d' in d'Anna.

Talk about today, tomorrow and yesterday, and combine them with parts of the day: haut de Moien, muer den Owend.

Use heem when someone goes or comes home, and doheem when someone is, stays or does something at home.

Use hei for here and do for there. Dee Mann do means that man there, and do sinn means to be present.

Hunn (to have) is irregular: ech hunn, du hues, hien/si/et huet, mir hunn, dir hutt, si hunn. By the n-rule, hunn is written hu before most consonants.

Answer a yes or no question with jo (yes) or nee (no): Bass du midd? Jo. Hues du Honger? Nee, merci. To say yes to a question with net or keen in it, use dach.

Keen and keng mean no or not a. Use keen with masculine and neuter nouns and keng with feminine and plural nouns.

Use kënnen with an infinitive to say what someone can do or what is possible. Watch the n-rule: ech ka schwammen, but ech kann hei parken.

Say merci to thank someone, add wannechgelift to a request, and answer a thank you with gär geschitt.

Mir means we, dir means you when you speak to several people informally, and si means they.

Say Moien to greet anyone and Äddi to say goodbye. Gudde Moien, gudden Owend and gutt Nuecht fit the time of day.

Use mussen with an infinitive to say that something is necessary: Ech muss elo schaffen. With net it usually means do not have to.

Mäin means my before masculine and neuter nouns, and it becomes mäi by the n-rule: mäi Brudder, mäin Auto. Before feminine and plural nouns, use meng: meng Mamm, meng Kanner.

Net (not) negates a verb, an adjective or a whole sentence. It usually follows the object and time words but comes before an adjective, a place or a verb form at the end: Ech schaffen haut net, Dat ass net gutt.

Oder (or) offers a choice and mee (but) adds a contrast. They join words or whole sentences, and the second sentence keeps its normal word order: Ech si midd, mee ech schaffen nach.

Sinn (to be) is irregular: ech sinn, du bass, hien/si/et ass, mir sinn, dir sidd, si sinn. By the n-rule, sinn is written si before most consonants.

Säin (säi) and seng mean his or its, and they also mean her when the woman is called hatt. Säin goes with masculine and neuter nouns, and seng with feminine and plural nouns: säi Vëlo, seng Mamm.

Wat asks what and wien asks who, and the conjugated verb comes right after the question word: Wat méchs du? Wien ass dat? By the n-rule, wien becomes wie before most consonants.

Wou asks where something or someone is, and wuer (or wouhin) asks where to: Wou wunns du? Wuer gees du? Wouhier asks where from: Wouhier kënns du?

Use wéi to ask how, and put an adjective after it to ask how old, how long or how often.

To ask which, use wéi een or wéi en with masculine and neuter nouns and wéi eng with feminine and plural nouns. By the n-rule, wéi en becomes wéi e before most consonants: Wéi een Auto fiers du? Wéi e Bus hëls du? Wéi eng Faarf hues du gär?

Use wéi vill, written as two words, to ask how much or how many. Wéi vill Auer ass et? asks the time.

Use wéini to ask when something happens, with the verb right after the question word.

Use wëllen with an infinitive or a noun to say what someone wants. It never means will in the sense of the future.

Say zu Lëtzebuerg or zu Esch for being in a town. Other countries take an: a Frankräich, an der Belsch.

Two has two forms: zwou with feminine nouns (zwou Stonnen) and zwee everywhere else (zwee Männer, zwee Kanner).

An adjective before a feminine noun or a plural noun keeps its dictionary form in the nominative and the accusative: eng grouss Stad, déi nei Wunneng, kleng Kanner, déi al Leit.

An adjective before a masculine noun adds -en, for the subject and the object alike: en neien Auto. By the n-rule the n drops before most consonants: de grousse Mann, mäi gudde Frënd.

An adjective before a neuter noun ends in -t in the nominative and the accusative: e grousst Haus, dat klengt Kand, en neit Buch. An adjective that already ends in t, such as gutt, adds nothing.

An adjective can describe how something is done without any change: Hie fiert séier (He drives fast), Si schwätzt gutt Lëtzebuergesch, Schwätz lues! Only before a noun does an adjective take endings.

Put the noun straight after a measure word such as Liter, Taass or Stéck, with no word for of.

Diminutives add -chen or -elchen, often with a vowel change: Bam and Beemchen, Kand and Këndchen, Dësch and Dëschelchen. Unlike in German, a diminutive usually keeps the gender of its noun: de Beemchen, eng Fläschelchen. The plural ends in -ercher or -elcher: d'Beemercher.

Everyday Luxembourgish uses many French words, such as merci, pardon, Coiffeur and Vakanz. Many keep their French spelling, while some are respelled the Luxembourgish way, such as Pompjee (firefighter) and Keessjee (cashier).

Say where you are going with an (an de Kino), op (op d'Aarbecht, op Esch) or bei (bei den Dokter), all followed by the accusative.

Use een with a singular verb to talk about people in general, like English one, you or they.

Many everyday verbs have irregular participles that you learn one by one: schreiwen → geschriwwen, iessen → giess, drénken → gedronk, huelen → geholl, soen → gesot, sinn → gewiescht, hunn → gehat.

Language names are neuter nouns: Lëtzebuergesch, Franséisch, Däitsch, Englesch, Portugisesch: Ech schwätze Lëtzebuergesch a Franséisch. A man from Luxembourg is e Lëtzebuerger and a woman eng Lëtzebuergerin.

Units of measure and money such as Liter, Kilo, Meter, Gramm and Euro, and also Joer, keep their short form after a number: zwee Liter Mëllech, véier Kilo, fënnef Euro, dräi Joer. Feminine units and most other time words take their normal plural: zwou Stonnen, dräi Deeg.

The months are Januar, Februar, Mäerz, Abrëll, Mee, Juni, Juli, August, September, Oktober, November and Dezember; the seasons are Fréijoer, Summer, Hierscht and Wanter. Use am for in: am Abrëll, am Wanter.

Ordinals are éischt, zweet, drëtt, véiert, then -t up to 19 and -st from 20 on, as in zwanzegst. They take adjective endings: den éischten Dag, déi zweet Kéier. Dates use them with den: den éischte Mee.

Verbs ending in -éieren and verbs with an unstressed prefix such as be-, ver- or er- take no ge-: studéiert, bezuelt, verstanen, erzielt. Some very common participles also lack it: komm, bliwwen, fonnt, kritt, bruecht, héieren, kaaft.

Put ge- between the prefix and the verb in the participle of a separable verb, unless the simple verb takes no ge-.

Most verbs form the perfect with hunn and a past participle: Ech hunn e Buch gelies, Mir hu gëschter Fussball gespillt. It is the normal way to talk about the past.

Verbs of movement and change of state, and the verbs sinn and bleiwen, form the perfect with sinn: Ech si mam Bus komm, Mir sinn an d'Stad gefuer, Si ass doheem bliwwen, Ech si krank gewiescht.

After dative prepositions and for dative objects, possessives take -em, -er or -en: mat mengem Brudder, mat menger Mamm, mat menge Kanner.

After fir, ouni, géint, ëm and duerch, use the accusative. It only looks different from the nominative in some personal pronouns, such as mech and dech.

After mat, bei, vun, no, zu, aus and zanter, articles, possessives and pronouns take their dative forms. Only bei switches to the accusative when you go to a person.

Reflexive verbs such as sech wäschen and sech freeën need a pronoun that matches the subject: Ech wäsche mech.

For a regular verb, take the stem, put ge- in front and -t at the end: spillen → gespillt, schaffen → geschafft, kucken → gekuckt, wunnen → gewunnt.

Un- and an- lose their n before most consonants, so you write ukucken and akafen but undoen and anhalen.

In main clauses and commands, the prefix of a separable verb goes to the end of the clause: Ech stinn um siwen Auer op.

Unstressed pronouns often shorten: de, en, se, mer and der. Use the full forms for emphasis or contrast.

Ask and tell the time with Wéi vill Auer ass et? and Et ass … Auer, including quarter and half hours.

The n-rule also shortens verbs and pronouns: mir komme muer, si hu Kanner, hie kënnt, but mir kommen haut and hien ass.

Talk about the future with the present tense and a time word: Muer fueren ech op Paräis.

After datt, well, wann, ob and similar words, move the conjugated verb to the end of the clause and use a comma.

Say when something happens with um or ëm for clock times, am for months and seasons, and e for a single day of the week.

Two-way prepositions take the accusative when something moves to a place and the dative when it is already there.

To say the most or -est after sinn, use am with the adjective and -sten: Hei ass et am schéinsten. Before a noun, the -st form takes the normal endings: dee gréisste Bierg, déi gréisst Stad, dat gréisst Haus.

Use the short forms am, um, vum, mam, beim, zum and nom for a preposition plus dem with a masculine or neuter noun.

Four very common words do not use méi + adjective: gutt → besser (better), vill → méi (more), gär → léiwer (rather), wéineg → manner (less). Ech drénke léiwer Téi, Hatt verdéngt manner ewéi hien.

Use dann for the next step or for a result in the present or future. The verb follows it directly, and it becomes da before most consonants.

Use datt (that) after words like mengen, soen, wëssen and hoffen, with the verb at the end of the datt clause.

Use stressed deen (dee), déi and dat to say that or that one, often with do (there) or hei (here).

In the dative, the becomes dem, der or den (de), and a becomes engem or enger.

Show ownership with the owner in the dative plus säin, hir and so on: dem Papp säin Auto means Dad's car.

Choose informal du or polite Dir. Dir takes the plural verb form and its own forms Iech and Är.

Use däerfen with an infinitive at the end to ask for or give permission; with net it forbids something.

Before an adjective, the short article d' is replaced by its full forms déi and dat: déi jonk Fra, dat grousst Haus.

Use dësen (dëse) with masculine nouns, dëst with neuter nouns and dës with feminine and plural nouns to say this or these.

Eisen, eis and eist mean our, and the ending matches the gender of the noun.

Use eppes for something and näischt for nothing, and add a capitalized adjective in -es for something new or nothing special.

Put esou or sou before an adjective and wéi or ewéi after it to say that two things are equal: Hien ass esou grouss wéi säi Papp. With net, it means not as ... as: Haut ass et net esou kal wéi gëschter.

Gefalen (to please) says that you like how something looks, sounds or seems. The thing is the subject and the person is in the dative: Dat gefält mir (I like that), Gefält dir de Film? The perfect uses hunn: D'Stad huet eis gutt gefall.

Say you are going out to do something with goen and an infinitive, without ze: Mir ginn iessen.

Hiren, hir and hiert mean her or their. The ending matches the noun that is owned.

Use jiddereen for everyone and keen for no one, with a singular verb; their dative forms are jidderengem and kengem.

Kéint, the could form of kënnen, turns a request into a polite question: Kéint Dir mir hëllefen? (Could you help me?) With du it is kéints: Kéints du d'Fënster zoumaachen?

To suggest doing something together, start with loosst eis and put the infinitive at the end: Loosst eis e Kaffi drénken! Loosse mer means the same and is just as common, in speech and in writing.

Use mech, dech, hien, si, hatt, et, eis, iech and polite Iech for the person or thing that receives the action.

Use mir, dir, him, hir, eis, iech, hinnen and polite Iech for the person who receives something or after dative verbs such as hëllefen.

Use moies, mëttes, owes and nuets for times of day, usually for habits, and add -s to a weekday for the same meaning.

Most adjectives form the comparative with méi (more) and keep their own form: méi kleng (smaller), méi al (older). Than is wéi or ewéi: Lëtzebuerg ass méi kleng wéi Frankräich.

Net brauchen ze with an infinitive means do not have to: Du brauchs net ze kommen (You don't have to come). Before a noun, use keen instead of net: Dir braucht Iech keng Suergen ze maachen.

Use net méi for something that has stopped and nach net for something that has not happened yet.

Use ob (whether, if) to put a yes or no question inside a sentence, with the verb at the end.

Use och for also, nach for still or one more, and schonn for already.

Use sollen with an infinitive at the end for duties, instructions and advice from others, and for offers with Soll ech …?

Use vill, e bëssen, e puer and wéineg before a noun to say how much or how many.

Say ago with virun before a time phrase in the dative: virun zwee Joer, virun enger Woch. It becomes viru before most consonants.

When a verb stem ending in w comes before a consonant ending or stands at the end of the word, it is written f: schreiwen, du schreifs, schreif!; bleiwen, hie bleift. Before a vowel it stays w: mir schreiwen.

Use wann for if and for when in the present, the future or for things that keep happening, with the verb at the end.

When du or its short form de is the subject of a subordinate clause, a small s stands between the conjunction, question word or relative pronoun and the pronoun: wann s de Zäit hues, datt s du kënns, wat s de wëlls. It is written as a word of its own.

Use war (was, were) and hat (had) to talk about the past with sinn and hunn.

Ask what kind of with wat fir en for masculine and neuter nouns and wat fir eng for feminine nouns. Plurals take eng or no article.

Give a reason with well (because), putting the verb at the end of the well clause.

Wëssen (to know a fact) is irregular: ech weess, du weess, hie weess, mir wëssen, dir wësst, si wëssen: Ech weess et net (I don't know). To know a person or a place, use kennen: Ech kennen hatt.

Use zanter or zënter with the dative and the present tense to say how long, or since when, something has been going on.

Put ze before an adjective, an adverb, vill or wéineg to say that something is too much.

Ären, är and äert mean your when you speak to several people, and Ären, Är and Äert are the polite forms.

Ëmmer means always, dacks often, heiansdo sometimes and ni never: Hie kënnt ëmmer ze spéit, Ech sinn ni krank, Mir ginn heiansdo an de Kino. If one of them comes first, the verb follows it directly.

After a dative article, possessive or preposition, adjectives take -en (written -e by the n-rule) with masculine, neuter and plural nouns, and -er with feminine nouns: mat engem neien Auto, mat engem klenge Kand, an enger grousser Stad, mat gudde Frënn.

An adjective can look different once it has an ending. Al gives den ale Mann, déi al Fra and en aalt Haus, because a long vowel is written double before two consonants. Some consonants also change: gutt becomes gudden and léif becomes léiwen.

Modal verbs have their own conditional forms: kéint, misst, sollt, dierft and wéilt. They soften a statement or make it hypothetical: Du sollts méi schlofen; Dat kéint klappen.

When the verb already has a direct object, the reflexive for ech and du is dative: Ech wäsche mir d'Hänn, Du méchs dir Suergen. For the other persons the reflexive stays the same (sech, eis, iech): Hie wäscht sech d'Hänn.

Hallef (half) takes adjective endings: eng hallef Stonn, en halleft Joer. Véierel (quarter) and Drëttel (third) are masculine nouns: e Véierel vun der Taart, en Drëttel vun de Leit.

To put a question inside another sentence, start a clause with a question word (wou, wéini, wat, wien) or with ob for yes or no questions, and send the verb to the end: Ech weess net, wou hie wunnt. Weess du, wéini den Zuch fiert?

The prefixes be-, ver-, er-, ent- and zer- are unstressed, never separate from the verb and take no ge- in the participle: bezuelen, Ech hunn d'Rechnung bezuelt; verstoen, Ech verstinn dech; erzielen; entwéckelen.

Lëtzebuergesch with a capital letter is the name of the language, as in Ech schwätze Lëtzebuergesch, and lëtzebuergesch is a normal adjective with endings: déi lëtzebuergesch Kichen, e lëtzebuergesche Film.

In the perfect, a modal verb with another verb is not a participle but an infinitive, placed before the main infinitive at the end: Ech hu misse schaffen, Hien huet net kënne kommen. The auxiliary is always hunn.

In a subordinate clause, the modal verb and the infinitive both go to the end. Luxembourgish very often puts the conjugated modal before the infinitive: Et deet mir leed, datt ech net ka kommen. The other order, with the infinitive first, is also correct: datt s du esou gutt sange kanns.

With two noun objects, the dative person comes first: Ech ginn dem Kand d'Buch. A pronoun comes before a noun: Ech ginn et dem Kand. With two pronouns, the dative usually comes first: Ech ginn him et.

A past participle can stand before a noun like an adjective and takes adjective endings: gekachten Ham (cooked ham), eng zougemaach Dier (a closed door).

The present passive is ginn plus the past participle at the end: D'Haus gëtt gebaut; Hei gëtt Lëtzebuergesch geschwat. Add the person who does the action with vun and the dative: vun engem Frënd.

For an event that came before another past event, use hat or war with the participle: Ech hat scho giess, wéi hien ukomm ass; Si war scho fortgaangen.

The conditional makes statements and questions softer and more polite: Ech hätt eng Fro (I have a question), Dat wier alles, merci; Géift Dir mir wannechgelift soen, wou d'Gare ass?

When a question about a person needs a preposition, the preposition comes first. Use wiem after dative prepositions like mat, vun and bei, and wien after accusative ones like fir, géint and ouni: Mat wiem schwätz du? Fir wien ass dat?

Unstressed pronouns usually come right after the conjugated verb or the conjunction, before a noun subject: Gëschter huet mech de Paul ugeruff; Ech weess, datt et de Chef scho gesinn huet.

A sentence can start with an object, a time word or a phrase instead of the subject, to stress it or to link to what was just said. The conjugated verb stays in second place, so the subject comes right after the verb: Dat Buch hunn ech scho gelies.

Adding gell? or oder? to a statement asks the listener to agree: Du kënns den Owend, gell? Dat ass flott, oder? With dir or Dir you can also say gellt?, and with du gelldu?.

Relative pronouns look like the stressed articles: deen for masculine nouns, déi for feminine and plural nouns, and dat for neuter nouns. The relative clause has the verb at the end: de Mann, deen do steet; d'Buch, dat ech liesen.

Wou links a clause to a noun of place or time: d'Stad, wou ech wunnen (the town where I live); den Dag, wou mir eis getraff hunn (the day when we met). The verb goes to the end.

In a main clause, the prefix of a separable verb goes to the end on its own: De Film fänkt um aacht Auer un. In a subordinate clause the whole verb goes to the end, and the prefix and the verb are written as one word again: Ech weess net, wéini de Film ufänkt.

Several short words starting with e also have an accepted form without it: elo or lo (now), esou or sou (so), eraus or raus (out), erëm or rëm (again), ewech or wech (away). No apostrophe is written.

A whole subordinate clause can take the first place in a sentence. The main clause then starts with its conjugated verb, and its subject follows: Wann et reent, bleiwen ech doheem; Well hie krank war, ass hien net komm.

Before a comma, a full stop or another punctuation mark, the final n is always written, even when it is not pronounced: Mir wollte froen, wéini et ufänkt; Ech ginn elo schlofen.

When several details follow the verb, the usual order is time, then manner, then place: Ech fuere muer mam Zuch op Paräis, Mir waren d'lescht Woch zu Fouss an der Stad.

For something imagined or unlikely, both clauses use a conditional form: Wann ech Zäit hätt, géif ech méi reesen; Wann ech räich wier, géif ech en Haus kafen.

Some verbs always take the same preposition: waarden op (wait for), denken un (think of), sech freeën op (look forward to). The preposition is often not the one English uses, and it decides the case of the noun after it.

A few common verbs take a dative object: hëllefen (help), äntweren (answer), gehéieren (belong to), feelen (be missing to) and schmaachen (taste good to): Ech hëllefen dir. Dat Buch gehéiert mir. Du feels mer means I miss you.

Many verbs from French end in -éieren. They take regular present endings, and their participle is the stem plus -t with no ge-: studéieren, Ech hunn zu Paräis studéiert; telefonéieren, organiséieren, reservéieren.

Net can stand directly before the word it negates, to contrast it with something else: Net ech, mee hien; Ech fueren net mam Auto, mee mam Zuch.

All before a noun means every or all and normally does not change: all Dag (every day), all d'Kanner (all the children). Alles stands on its own and means everything: Alles ass an der Rei.

Als means as in the sense of a role, function or stage of life: Si schafft als Enseignante. Als Kand war ech dacks krank. Jobs and roles after als take no article. For comparisons use wéi, not als.

Luxembourgish has no tense like English I am eating. To stress that an action is going on right now, use sinn with amgaang and put ze and the infinitive at the end: Si ass amgaang, eng Zopp ze kachen.

Bis is a preposition, as in bis muer and bis e Méindeg, and also a conjunction with the verb at the end: Waart, bis ech kommen.

For things and ideas, Luxembourgish joins do- to the preposition instead of saying with it or about it: domat, dofir, dovun. Before a vowel it becomes dor-: dorop, doriwwer, dorun. In relaxed speech the dor- words often shorten to drop, driwwer and drun.

Dofir means that's why and also means so. Both are adverbs, so when they open a clause the verb comes next: Ech war krank, dofir sinn ech net komm; Et ass spéit, also gi mer heem.

Dunn means then when telling what happened next in the past, while dann is used for the present and future: Mir hu giess, dunn hu mer e Film gekuckt.

Some feelings use et, sinn and the person in the dative: Et ass mer kal (I am cold), Et ass mer schlecht (I feel sick).

To say why you do something, start the phrase with fir and put ze and the infinitive at the end: Si spuert, fir en Auto ze kafen. A comma comes before fir when the phrase has more than just ze and the verb.

Genuch (enough) goes before a noun: genuch Zäit. After an adjective or adverb it comes last: grouss genuch, séier genuch.

Gesinn and héieren can be followed by a person and a bare infinitive at the end: Ech gesinn de Bus kommen, Ech héieren hatt sangen.

Géif plus an infinitive means would: ech géif, du géifs, hie géif, mir géifen, dir géift, si géifen. Ech géif gär matkommen; Wat géifs du maachen?

Hunn with ze and an infinitive means to have something to do: Ech hunn nach vill ze dinn, Du hues hei näischt ze soen.

Ier (before) introduces a clause with the verb at the end: Mir iessen, ier mer fortfueren; Ruff mech un, ier s de kënns.

Iergend- makes words for someone, something, somewhere, somehow and some time: iergendeen, iergendeppes, iergendwou, iergendwéi, iergendwann. They are written as one word: Iergendeen huet ugeruff.

Four modal verbs have a simple past: konnt (could), wollt (wanted to), sollt (was supposed to) and duerft (was allowed to): Ech wollt dech uruffen, Mir konnten net kommen.

Loossen with an infinitive at the end means to let or to have something done: Looss mech goen! Ech loossen den Auto reparéieren. In the perfect, gelooss comes after the infinitive: Ech hunn den Auto reparéiere gelooss.

Mee means but and joins two main clauses with normal word order: Ech wollt kommen, mee ech hat keng Zäit. Awer means however or though and usually stands after the verb: Hien ass awer net komm. It can also be used like mee.

Without a noun, a possessive takes its own endings: mengen (menge) for masculine, meng for feminine and plural, mäint for neuter. Däin, säin and the others work the same way: Ass dat mäi Buch oder ass et däint?

Nodeems (also nodeem, after) introduces a clause with the verb at the end, usually in the pluperfect or perfect: Nodeems mer giess haten, si mer spadséiere gaangen.

Obwuel introduces a clause that states a fact which you might expect to stop the main action, with the verb at the end: Mir ginn eraus, obwuel et reent.

Ouni opens the group, and ze with the infinitive goes to the end: Hien ass gaangen, ouni Äddi ze soen. A comma always comes before ouni. When the other action has its own subject, use ouni datt with a full clause.

Selwer means myself, yourself or themselves in the sense of "without help" or "in person": Ech hunn et selwer gemaach, De Chef kënnt selwer. It has the same form for every person.

Soubal introduces a time clause meaning as soon as, with the verb at the end: Ech ruffen dech un, soubal ech doheem sinn. The dictionary lists it as esoubal, and ewéi can follow it: esoubal ewéi.

Stoen (stand), sëtzen (sit) and leien (lie) describe where something is, with the dative and hunn in the perfect: D'Buch läit um Dësch. Ech hunn do gesiess. To put something somewhere, use stellen, setzen or leeën with the accusative: Ech leeën d'Buch op den Dësch.

Trotzdeem means nevertheless, still or anyway. It is an adverb, not a conjunction, so when it starts a clause the verb comes right after it: Et reent, trotzdeem gi mer eraus.

Use wann for events in the present or future and for things that happened again and again, and use wéi for a single event in the past: Wann ech Zäit hunn, kommen ech; Wéi ech Zäit hat, sinn ech komm.

To ask whose, use wiem with säin or seng, the same pattern as dem Papp säin Auto: Wiem säin Hond ass dat? Wiem seng Täsch ass dat? The possessive agrees with the owned noun, not with the owner.

Sinn and hunn have their own one-word conditional forms: ech wier, du wiers, hie wier and ech hätt, du häss, hien hätt. Dat wier flott; Ech hätt gär méi Zäit.

To ask with what, about what or for what, join wou- to the preposition: woumat, woufir, wouvun. Before a vowel it becomes wour-: wourop, wouriwwer, wourun. For a person, use the preposition with wien or wiem instead.

Wäert (from wäerten) plus an infinitive says what will probably happen or what is probably true now: Et wäert muer reenen; Hie wäert krank sinn (He is probably ill). For ordinary plans, the present tense is more usual.

Wéi with the verb at the end means when for a single event or period in the past: Wéi ech kleng war, hunn ech zu Esch gewunnt; Wéi mer ukomm sinn, huet et gereent.

Wéinst means because of, trotz means despite and wärend means during. All three take the dative: wéinst dem Wieder, trotz dem Reen, wärend der Woch. With nouns, Luxembourgish does not use the German genitive here.

After verbs like probéieren, vergiessen and ufänken, and after phrases like et ass einfach or ech hu Loscht, a second verb comes as ze plus the infinitive. Ze and the infinitive stand at the end of the clause, with everything else before them: Et ass net einfach, eng Wunneng ze fannen.

With a separable verb, ze goes between the prefix and the rest of the verb, and the three parts are written as one word: opstoen becomes opzestoen, matkommen becomes matzekommen. Verbs that do not separate keep ze in front: ze verstoen.

Zënter (also zanter) can also start a clause, with the verb at the end, for something that began in the past and is still true: Zënter ech hei wunnen, schwätzen ech méi Lëtzebuergesch.

-eneen means each other. After a preposition it is written as one word: Si schwätze mateneen. Without a preposition, Luxembourgish usually uses eis, iech or sech: Mir gesinn eis muer.

An adjective can be used as a noun. It is written with a capital letter and takes the same ending it would have before a noun: déi Jonk (young people), eist Klengt (our little one), de Verantwortlechen (the person in charge).

The endings -eg and -lech make adjectives from nouns and other words: d'Sonn and sonneg, den Honger and hongereg, de Frënd and frëndlech, den Dag and deeglech, d'Gléck and glécklech.

Everyday texts use short forms such as wgl. (wannechgelift, please), asw. (an esou weider, etc.), z. B. (zum Beispill) and d. h. (dat heescht, that is). The older short form w.e.g. is still common.

Nouns join into a single word, and the compound takes the gender of its last part: d'Haus and d'Dier give d'Hausdier. A linking -s- or -en- is often added: Aarbechtsgrupp, Gebuertsdag, Zoppeläffel.

Separable prefixes such as eran- (in), eraus- (out), erop- (up), erof- (down) and erëm- (back) show the direction of a movement: Kommt eran! Mir sinn an de Buttek erakomm. Ech komme gläich erof.

English words used in Luxembourgish usually keep their English spelling, but nouns are capitalized and get a gender: de Weekend, de Computer, den Handy. Their plurals often follow Luxembourgish patterns: d'Weekender.

Wat can start an exclamation about how good, bad, big or many something is: Wat en Dag! Wat ass hatt eng schéi Fra! Wat hues du vill Bicher!

Many nouns for women add -in or -esch to the male form: de Schüler and d'Schülerin, den Dokter and d'Doktesch, den Noper and d'Nopesch. The plurals are -innen and -eschen.

In informal writing et and ze can lose their e, written with an apostrophe: 't ass waarm, 't geet eis gutt. Standard texts write et and ze in full, except in the fixed form z'iessen.

In a subordinate clause, the auxiliary of a modal perfect comes before the two infinitives: well se laang huet misse waarden. It does not go to the very end.

Nouns and adjectives keep their final n before any consonant, unless they end in -en, -een or -äin: blann sinn, Frënn gesinn, eng ronn Saach. The adjectives fein and schéin are exceptions: eng schéi Geschicht, dat si fei Leit.

The endings -heet and -keet make feminine nouns from adjectives: fräi and d'Fräiheet, gesond and d'Gesondheet, méiglech and d'Méiglechkeet. Use -keet after -lech, -eg, -bar and -sam.

Many feminine nouns are made from verbs with -ung: rechnen and d'Rechnung, entwéckelen and d'Entwécklung, versammelen and d'Versammlung. They take -en in the plural: d'Rechnungen.

Some common verbs have a one-word conditional besides géif with an infinitive: kéim (would come), géing (would go) and wéisst (would know). They are common in wann clauses: Wann ech et wéisst, géif ech dir et soen.

The perfect passive uses sinn, the participle and the participle ginn: D'Haus ass 1990 gebaut ginn, Hien ass gëschter operéiert ginn.

Adjectives formed from place names end in -er, are capitalized and never change: d'Lëtzebuerger Kichen, d'Stater Leit (people from Luxembourg City), d'Escher Autobunn.

When the relative pronoun is a dative object or follows a dative preposition, use deem (masculine and neuter), där (feminine) or deenen (plural): de Frënd, deem ech gehollef hunn; d'Leit, mat deenen ech schaffen.

Use wat as the relative pronoun after alles, näischt, eppes and dat, and to refer to a whole clause: Alles, wat ech weess; Hie koum ze spéit, wat mech geiergert huet. After an ordinary noun, use deen, déi or dat.

Besides war and hat, some common verbs have a simple past: koum (came), goung (went), gouf (became), sot (said), stoung (stood), souz (sat), krut (got) and blouf (stayed). They appear mostly in stories, news and writing.

Small unstressed words add feeling: dach adds insistence or surprise (Dat weess du dach!), jo points to something known (Du waars jo krank), and emol or mol softens a request (Kuck emol!).

Sinn with a participle says what state something is in after an action: D'Geschäft ass zougemaach (the shop is closed). Gëtt with a participle describes the action while it happens.

The n-rule also applies where two words meet inside a compound: Zoppeläffel (soup spoon), Bierebam (pear tree). Before the suffix -schaft the n stays: Eegenschaft, Wëssenschaft.

The prefix on- makes an adjective negative, and it always keeps its n, whatever consonant follows: onméiglech, onpraktesch, onbekannt, ongedëlleg.

A modal verb can be combined with the passive, with the participle and ginn at the end: Dat muss haut nach gemaach ginn, D'Dier kann net opgemaach ginn.

An impersonal passive has no subject: Hei gëtt net gefëmmt (there is no smoking here). The helper is always singular (gëtt, or gouf in the past), and et fills the first place only when nothing else stands there.

Some loanwords form the plural with -en. When the n-rule drops that n, the plural could look like the singular or another word, so the last e is written ë to show it is pronounced: d'Formulairen, but déi néideg Formulairë fannt Dir hei; d'Coursen, but zwee Coursë beleeën.

For something that did not happen in the past, use hätt or wier with the participle: Wann ech dat gewosst hätt, wier ech doheem bliwwen. Verbs that take hunn in the perfect take hätt; verbs that take sinn take wier.

Any infinitive can be used as a neuter noun with a capital letter: d'Schwätzen, d'Liesen, d'Iessen: D'Schwätze fält mir méi liicht wéi d'Schreiwen.

Wishes use the conditional together with nëmmen (if only): Wann ech nëmmen Zäit hätt! For the past, use hätt or wier with a participle: Hätt ech dat nëmme gewosst!

In numbers the comma separates the decimals, and a space or a point may group the thousands: 3,25; 100 000 or 100.000. Ordinal numbers are written with a full stop: den 1. Abrëll.

Abee and majo open a reply or a new thought, like English well: Abee, da kënne mer jo elo ufänken. Majo, esou ass dat! They stand outside the sentence, so the verb still comes second after them.

Amplaz with ze and an infinitive means instead of doing something: Amplaz ze schaffen, kuckt hien Tëlee. A comma always separates the amplaz group from the rest of the sentence.

Put heiten (here) or doten (there) after the stressed article deen, déi or dat to point strongly: deen heiten Text, déi dote Lëscht. Heiten and doten never change, except that they follow the n-rule.

Dowéinst (because of that, that's why) and deemno (accordingly, so) are adverbs, so the verb follows them directly: Ech hat eng ustrengend Woch, dowéinst muss ech de Weekend e wéineg Schlof nohuelen. Et huet gereent, deemno ware manner Leit op der Kiermes.

Egal with a question word or ob means no matter: Egal wéi spéit et ass, ruff mech un. The verb goes to the end of the egal clause.

Entweeder ... oder means either ... or. Entweeder comes before the first choice and oder before the second: Du kanns entweeder Téi oder Kaffi hunn.

Esou with an adjective or adverb and a following datt clause expresses a result: Hie war esou midd, datt hien direkt ageschlof ass. Esou datt together, without an adjective, means so, with the result that.

Et geet ëm with the accusative means it is about: Et geet ëm eng wichteg Saach. To ask about the topic, say Wourëm geet et? or Ëm wat geet et?

Fir datt means so that. It starts a purpose clause with its own subject and the verb at the end: Ech schwätze lues, fir datt jidderee mech versteet.

Gouf with a participle is a past passive: D'Gesetz gouf gëschter gestëmmt (the law was passed yesterday). It means the same as ass ... ginn and is typical of news and formal texts.

Jee méi starts a clause with the verb at the end. Desto méi or ëmsou méi then starts the main clause, with the verb right after it: Jee méi ech schaffen, desto méi midd sinn ech.

Net nëmmen ... mee och adds a second point to a first one: Si schwätzt net nëmme Lëtzebuergesch, mee och Portugisesch. A comma goes before mee.

Och wann (even if, even though) says that something does not change the result. The verb goes to the end: Ech kommen, och wann et reent.

Sech loossen with an infinitive means that something can be done: Dat léisst sech maachen (that can be done). The thing is the subject, and nobody who does it is named.

Selwecht means the same. It follows the article and takes the normal adjective endings: de selwechte Mann, déi selwecht Plaz, dat selwecht Buch. To compare, use ewéi or wéi: déi selwecht Aefaarf ewéi meng Mamm.

Soss means otherwise, or else, and the verb follows it directly: Maach dech fäerdeg, soss komme mer ze spéit. It also means else in Soss nach eppes? and usually in manner wéi soss.

Ufänken (to start) and ophalen (to stop) can take mat and an infinitive without ze: Et huet ugefaang mat reenen. Hien huet opgehale mat fëmmen.

Weeder ... nach means neither ... nor. It negates two things at once, without net or keen: Ech hu weeder Zäit nach Loscht.

Wärend (while) links two actions that happen at the same time. The verb goes to the end of its clause: Wärend ech kachen, lauschteren ech Musek.

Ëmmer méi describes something that keeps growing: Et gëtt ëmmer méi deier. With a noun it means more and more: Ëmmer méi Leit schwätze Lëtzebuergesch.

For some words the official rules allow two written forms, and both are correct: äifereg and äifreg, Wouerecht and Wourecht, iwweregens and iwwregens. The Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire lists which forms are accepted.

In everyday speech géif can appear in both halves of an imagined condition: Wa mer et géife maachen, wier et méi einfach. With sinn, hunn and a few common verbs, careful writing usually prefers the one-word forms in the wann clause: wann ech Zäit hätt.

To focus on one person or thing, put it after et ass or et war and add a relative clause: Et war de Paul, deen ugeruff huet; Et ass dës Saach, déi mech stéiert. With a plural, the verb is plural: Et sinn d'Elteren, déi decidéieren.

A formal letter or e-mail opens with Léif Madame or Léiwen Här and closes with Mat beschte Gréiss or Mat frëndleche Gréiss. Throughout the text, Dir, Iech and Är stay capitalized: Kéint Dir Ärersäits kontrolléieren, ob se Iech et geschéckt hunn?

Wäert with a participle and hunn or sinn describes something that will be finished, or makes a guess about the past: Bis muer wäert hien d'Aarbecht fäerdeg gemaach hunn. Si wäert den Zuch verpasst hunn (She has probably missed the train).

Some adverbs link ideas across sentences: iwwregens (by the way), allerdéngs (however), nämlech (you see; namely) and souwisou (anyway): Si haten eng flott Vakanz, et huet allerdéngs vill gereent.

In speech, a noun can be named at the start and then picked up by a stressed pronoun in first place: De Paul, dee kennen ech gutt; Dee Film, dee muss ee gesinn hunn.

In everyday speech, reported words keep the indicative after datt: Hie seet, datt hie krank ass. News and careful speech often use the conditional instead, to keep a distance from the claim: Hie sot, hie wier krank.

In the past conditional, a modal verb appears in its infinitive form, just before the main verb: Ech hätt dat misse wëssen (I should have known that), Mir hätten eis kënnen treffen (We could have met).

First names, family names and brand names keep their n: De Ruben muss éischter goen. Geographical names ending in -en drop it before a consonant: an Italie fueren, a Schwede fueren; for towns both forms are allowed: zu Lëntge or zu Lëntgen.

The n-rule follows how a number or abbreviation is pronounced, not how it is written: den 1. Abrëll (éischten) but de 5. Abrëll (fënneften); den LCTO-Programm and en SNJ-Ausfluch, because L and S are read as Ell and Ess.

A verb with a fixed preposition uses the do-form when the object is a whole clause: Ech freeë mech dorop, datt s de kënns; Et hänkt dovun of, ob et reent.

Et with a reflexive verb describes how something is in general: Zu Berlin lieft et sech gutt (Life is good in Berlin).

Et can stand in first place and point forward to a clause that comes later: Et freet mech, datt Dir komm sidd; Et ass wichteg, datt s de dat verstees. When the clause itself comes first, et is dropped: Datt Dir komm sidd, freet mech.

Jee nodeem with a question word or ob means depending on: Mir kommen op d'Fest, jee nodeem ob mer Zäit hunn; jee nodeem wou ee wunnt. With a noun, use jee no and the dative: jee nom Wieder. On its own, jee nodeem means it depends.

Kréien with a participle presents the person who receives something as the subject: Hien huet en Auto geschenkt kritt (He was given a car). It can also mean getting something done for you, or managing to get it done.

Ob ... oder gives two possibilities that make no difference to the result: Ob et reent oder net, mir ginn eraus. The verb goes to the end of the ob clause, and the main clause that follows keeps its own normal word order.

When the second action has its own subject, use ouni datt (without) or amplaz datt (instead of) with a full clause: Hie war fort, ouni datt een et gemierkt huet.

In formal and official texts, sinn with ze and an infinitive means that something must or can be done: De Formulaire ass bis Freideg auszefëllen (The form must be filled in by Friday).

Sollen can pass on what other people say, without confirming it: Hie soll ganz räich sinn (He is said to be very rich), Den neie Restaurant soll gutt sinn. For the past, add a perfect infinitive: Si soll gëschter ugeruff hunn.

Souwuel ... wéi och links two elements formally, like both ... and: Souwuel d'Kanner wéi och d'Elteren hu sech gefreet. The forms esouwuel and ewéi are also standard, and och is optional.

Wat with a noun and ugeet at the end introduces a topic: Wat d'Aarbecht ugeet, si mer bal fäerdeg (As for the work, we are almost done).

A clause starting with wien (wie by the n-rule) can mean whoever, and it is often picked up again by deen: Wie Loscht huet, ka matkommen; Wien ze spéit kënnt, dee muss waarden.

Wéi wann with the conditional describes how something seems: Hie mécht, wéi wann hien näischt héieren hätt; Et ass, wéi wann et gëschter gewiescht wier. The verb goes to the end of the clause.

Poems and songs sometimes replace left-out letters with an apostrophe to fit the rhythm, for example 't for et. This is poetic licence, not everyday spelling.

The passive can be combined with the conditional: D'Strooss géif nei gemaach ginn, wann d'Gemeng Suen hätt. For the past use wier ... ginn, and with a modal hätt ... misse ... ginn: Dat hätt misse gemaach ginn (That should have been done).

Instead of wann, a formal condition can start with its conjugated verb: Hätt ech dat gewosst, wier ech doheem bliwwen. The main clause then starts with its verb or with dann.

Official and administrative texts often express actions with nouns instead of verbs: d'Ausschaffe vun de Reegelen (the drawing up of the rules) rather than d'Reegelen ausschaffen. Recognize this style in official texts, but prefer verbs when you speak.

Formal texts can put a whole participle phrase before a noun: déi vum Staat finanzéiert Projeten (the projects financed by the state). The participle takes normal adjective endings. In speech, a relative clause is more natural: d'Projeten, déi vum Staat finanzéiert ginn.

Official spelling rules were published in 1946, 1975 and 1999 before the current 2019 rules, so older books may spell words differently. The Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire gives the current standard form.

The present participle ends in -end: spannen gives spannend, dréngen gives dréngend. It works like an adjective, e.g. e spannend Buch, en dréngenden Appell, or as an adverb: Hie schwätzt fléissend Russesch. It never forms an -ing tense.

Besides géif + infinitive, some verbs have a one-word conditional, mostly in writing and older speech: stéing (would stand), séiz (would sit), léich (would lie), bléif (would stay), héil (would take or hold), geséich (would see). In speech, géif with an infinitive is normal: Hie géif bleiwen.

Spoken Luxembourgish differs between regions such as the north (Éislek), the Moselle (Musel), the south (Minett) and the centre, in vowels, some words and some verb forms. The written standard follows the central variety and the official spelling rules.

Wier or hätt with a participle reports someone else's words about the past and keeps a distance: Hie mengt, hien hätt säi Schlëssel verluer. Use wier where the perfect uses sinn and hätt where it uses hunn.

Before a foreign word, the n-rule depends on how the word begins when you say it: en Job and den Chat keep the n (dsch and tsch sounds), de Chef drops it (sch sound). Before an English u or o, it depends on the sound: e User (j sound) but en Update (vowel).

Alt is a small word with three uses: sometimes (Mir sinn alt an de Kino gaangen), now without waiting (Mir ginn alt schonn), and a resigned just or once again (Et geet alt esou).

The genitive case has almost disappeared, but it survives in fixed phrases: Enn des Mounts (at the end of the month), Enn des Joers, ufangs des Mounts, ausgangs des Mounts and des Laangen an des Breeden (at great length). Otherwise use vun or the possessive construction: dem Sculpteur seng Wierker.

Wëllen can mean claims to: Hie wëllt e grousse Spezialist sinn (He claims to be a great specialist). With a perfect infinitive it reports a claim about the past: Hie wëllt dat net gesinn hunn (He claims not to have seen it).