Accepted Spelling Variants

Level 5

Some words have two official spellings: äifereg or äifreg, Wouerecht or Wourecht, elo or lo. Both forms are correct.

How It Works

Luxembourgish has one official spelling, but for some words it accepts two forms. The LOD marks one as the main entry and the other as a variant.

1. An unspoken e
In some words the e in a weak syllable is often not pronounced. Both spellings are allowed:

  • äifereg and äifreg (eager)
  • trauereg and traureg (sad)
  • gouereg and goureg (skinny)
  • iwweregens and iwwregens (by the way)
  • Wouerecht and Wourecht (truth)
  • wakereg and waakreg (awake)

The missing e is never replaced by an apostrophe. If a long vowel ends up before two consonants, it is doubled: waakreg, not wakreg (see Long and Short Vowels).

2. Short words without the first e
elo / lo, esou / sou, erëm / rëm, eraus / raus: the forms with e are the main forms (see Short Forms Without the First E).

3. Loanwords
Some French or German spellings are accepted next to the Luxembourgish form: Ekipp / Equipe, Damm / Dame, Fürerschäin / Führerschäin, geografesch / geographesch. The Luxembourgish form is the main one (see Everyday French Words).

4. Check the dictionary
Not every familiar spelling is a variant. The LOD entry is trotzdeem, and trotzdem is not accepted. Older spellings from before the reform are not variants either (see Older Spellings). When you are unsure, look the word up on lod.lu.

Examples (6)

  1. Si ass eng äifreg Schülerin.

    She is an eager pupil.

    Also correct: eng äifereg Schülerin.

  2. Hie seet ëmmer d'Wouerecht.

    He always tells the truth.

    Also correct: d'Wourecht.

  3. Iwwregens, hues du de Paul gesinn?

    By the way, have you seen Paul?

    Also correct: Iwweregens.

  4. Mir fänke lo un.

    We're starting now.

    Also correct: Mir fänken elo un. The n of fänken stays before the vowel of elo.

  5. Ech sinn nach net waakreg.

    I'm not awake yet.

    Also correct: wakereg. Without the e, the long a is written aa.

  6. D'Ekipp huet gewonnen.

    The team won.

    Also correct: D'Equipe huet gewonnen.

Common Mistakes

  • Replacing the dropped e with an apostrophe.

    Si ass ganz äif'reg.
    Si ass ganz äifreg.

    When the unspoken e is left out, nothing takes its place. Write äifreg or äifereg.

  • Dropping the e without doubling the long vowel.

    Ech sinn nach net wakreg.
    Ech sinn nach net waakreg.

    The a is long. Once the e is gone, two consonants follow it, so the vowel must be doubled: waakreg, or keep wakereg.

  • Using a spelling that is not an accepted variant.

    Et reent, mee mir ginn trotzdem spadséieren.
    Et reent, mee mir ginn trotzdeem spadséieren.

    Only the forms listed in the LOD are accepted. The official spelling is trotzdeem.

How It Connects

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Accepted Spelling VariantsLevel 5

Learn This First

Before Accepted Spelling Variants, learn Short Forms Without the First E and Long and Short Vowels.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

äiferegWouerechtiwweregens