Adjective Endings: Neuter -t

Level 2

Before a neuter noun, add -t to the adjective: e grousst Haus (a big house), dat klengt Kand (the little child).

How It Works

1. The rule
Add -t to the adjective before a neuter noun:

  • grouss → e grousst Haus (a big house)
  • kleng → dat klengt Kand (the little child)
  • schéin → e schéint Kleed (a nice dress)
  • nei → en neit Buch (a new book)
  • léif → e léift Kand (a sweet child)

2. After every kind of article
The -t appears after en, after dat (dat grousst Haus), after keen (kee grousst Haus), after possessives (mäin neit Buch) and with no article (kaalt Waasser). The short article d' becomes dat before an adjective; see Déi and Dat.

3. Adjectives that already end in t
Do not add a second t: gutt → e gutt Buch, rout → e rout Kleed, interessant → en interessant Buch.

4. Spelling changes
A few adjectives double their vowel before -t, because the vowel is long: al → en aalt Haus, kal → kaalt Waasser. See Adjective Stem Changes.

5. Subject and object look the same
Dat klengt Kand schléift (subject) and Ech gesinn dat klengt Kand (object) use the same form. The dative is different: mat engem klenge Kand. See Adjective Endings in the Dative.

6. Not like German
German says ein großes Haus. Luxembourgish uses a short -t instead: e grousst Haus.

To use this rule you need to know which nouns are neuter, so learn each noun with its article. See Three Noun Genders.

Examples (6)

  1. Mir hunn e grousst Haus.

    We have a big house.

  2. Dat klengt Kand schléift.

    The little child is sleeping.

    D' becomes dat before the adjective, and the adjective still takes -t.

  3. Si huet e schéint Kleed un.

    She is wearing a nice dress.

    Kleed is neuter, so schéin becomes schéint.

  4. Ech liesen en neit Buch.

    I am reading a new book.

    The article keeps its n before the n of neit.

  5. Dat ass e gutt Buch.

    That is a good book.

    Gutt already ends in t, so nothing is added.

  6. Ech drénke gär kaalt Waasser.

    I like drinking cold water.

    With no article, the neuter adjective still takes -t. Kal doubles its vowel: kaalt.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the German ending -es.

    Mir hunn e grousses Haus.
    Mir hunn e grousst Haus.

    Luxembourgish marks the neuter with -t, not -es.

  • Leaving out the -t after dat.

    Dat grouss Haus ass al.
    Dat grousst Haus ass al.

    The -t is needed after every article, including dat.

  • Forgetting the ending and the article's n together.

    Hien huet e nei Buch.
    Hien huet en neit Buch.

    Buch is neuter, so the adjective needs -t, and en keeps its n before the n of neit.

How It Connects

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Adjective Endings: Neuter -tLevel 2

Learn This First

Before Adjective Endings: Neuter -t, learn Adjective Endings: Masculine -en.

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Patterns that build on this one.