an (And)

And: An

Level 1

An means and. Before most consonants it loses its n and becomes a: Kaffi a Kuch.

How It Works

An is the everyday word for "and". It can join two words, two groups of words or two whole sentences: Brout a Botter (bread and butter), Ech sinn doheem an ech kachen. (I'm at home and I'm cooking.)

An or a? Like many short words, an follows the n-rule. Look at the first letter of the next word:

  • Keep an before a vowel: Kanner an Elteren, e Jong an e Meedchen.
  • Keep an before d, h, n, t and z: ech an du, Kaz an Hond, Kaffi an Téi.
  • Write a before other consonants: Papp a Mamm, Kaffi a Kuch, Brout a Botter.

Before the small words si, se, säin, seng, sech and sou, you may keep or drop the n: du an si and du a si are both correct. Before a comma or a full stop, the n always stays. See the n-rule before punctuation.

The word order stays the same. After an, the next sentence starts in the normal way, with the verb in second place: Ech sinn doheem an ech kachen. See word order basics.

A second an. Luxembourgish also has a word an that means "in" or "into": an der Stad (in town), an Italien (in Italy). It follows the same n-rule. The rest of the sentence tells you which one you have. See going places.

Examples (6)

  1. De Papp an d'Mamm sinn doheem.

    Mum and Dad are at home.

    Word by Word: The dad and the mum are at home.

    An keeps its n before d.

  2. Ech iesse Brout a Kéis.

    I'm eating bread and cheese.

    A before K: the n drops.

  3. D'Iesse ass gutt a bëlleg.

    The food is good and cheap.

    A before b.

  4. Du an ech ginn an de Kino.

    You and I are going to the cinema.

    The first an means and, the second means to. Both keep the n here.

  5. Mir hunn zwee Kanner, e Jong an e Meedchen.

    We have two children, a boy and a girl.

    An keeps its n before a vowel.

  6. Kommt eran a maacht är Hausaufgaben!

    Come in and do your homework!

    A joins two commands. It is a before m.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the n before a consonant that drops it.

    Papp an Mamm
    Papp a Mamm

    M is not one of the letters d, h, n, t or z, so the n drops and an becomes a.

  • Dropping the n before d, h, n, t, z or a vowel.

    ech a du
    ech an du

    D is one of the letters that keep the n, so you write an.

How It Connects

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

an (And)Level 1And: An

Learn This First

Before And: An, learn The Verb Comes Second.

Words in This Pattern

an