Adjectives in -eg and -lech

Level 4

Add -eg or -lech to a noun to make an adjective: d'Sonn → sonneg (sunny), de Frënd → frëndlech (friendly), d'Gléck → glécklech (happy).

How It Works

1. The ending -eg
Many adjectives in -eg come from nouns:

  • d'Sonn (sun) → sonneg (sunny)
  • den Honger (hunger) → hongereg (hungry), den Duuscht (thirst) → duuschtereg (thirsty)
  • d'Loscht (desire, wish) → lëschteg (cheerful, funny)
  • d'Gedold (patience) → gedëlleg (patient)

Other common -eg adjectives are wichteg (important), néideg (necessary) and schwiereg (difficult).

2. The ending -lech
Adjectives in -lech often mean like or every:

  • de Frënd → frëndlech (friendly)
  • den Dag → deeglech (daily), with the same vowel as the plural Deeg
  • d'Gléck → glécklech (happy, lucky)
  • d'Gefor (danger) → geféierlech (dangerous)
  • méiglech (possible) also ends in -lech

3. Endings
These adjectives take the normal endings before a noun: e sonnegen Dag (masculine -en), eng frëndlech Fra (feminine), e frëndlecht Kand (neuter -t), frëndlech Leit (plural). After sinn they take no ending: Ech sinn hongereg.

4. Spelling tip
At the end of a word, -eg and -ech sound the same, so write the adjective the way the dictionary shows it: sonneg, but frëndlech. Do not confuse these with -esch, as in lëtzebuergesch or komesch.

5. Word families
Many of these adjectives make nouns with -keet (frëndlech → Frëndlechkeet) and opposites with the on- prefix (glécklech → onglécklech).

Examples (6)

  1. Muer gëtt et e schéine sonnegen Dag.

    Tomorrow will be a lovely sunny day.

    sonneg from d'Sonn, with the masculine ending -en before Dag.

  2. Deng Eltere si frëndlech Leit.

    Your parents are friendly people.

    frëndlech from de Frënd.

  3. Ech sinn hongereg a mäi Brudder ass duuschtereg.

    I am hungry and my brother is thirsty.

    After sinn the adjectives take no ending.

  4. Ech war glécklech, wéi ech mäin Exame gepackt hat.

    I was happy when I passed my exam.

    glécklech from d'Gléck.

  5. Dat ass meng deeglech Aarbecht.

    That is my daily work.

    deeglech from den Dag, with the vowel of the plural Deeg.

  6. Dat ass eng wichteg Fro.

    That is an important question.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing -eg as -ech because they sound the same.

    Et ass haut ganz sonnech.
    Et ass haut ganz sonneg.

    The adjective from Sonn is spelled sonneg. The two endings sound alike, so check the spelling in the dictionary.

  • Writing -lech as -leg.

    Si ass ganz frëndleg.
    Si ass ganz frëndlech.

    The ending is -lech: frëndlech, glécklech, deeglech.

  • Leaving out the ending before a masculine noun.

    Muer gëtt et e sonneg Dag.
    Muer gëtt et e sonnegen Dag.

    Before a masculine noun the adjective needs -en. The n stays before d.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Adjectives in -eg and -lechLevel 4

Learn This First

Before Adjectives in -eg and -lech, learn Adjective Endings: Masculine -en.