Direction Prefixes: eran- / eraus- / erop- / erof-

Direction Prefixes: Eran-, Eraus-, Erop-, Erof-

Level 4

Put a direction word in front of a verb of movement: eran (in), eraus (out), erop (up), erof (down), erëm (back). Kommt eran! (Come in!) Ech komme gläich erof. (I'll be right down.)

How It Works

1. The prefixes

  • eran (in): erakommen (to come in), eragoen (to go in)
  • eraus (out): erauskommen, erausgoen
  • erop (up): eropgoen, eropkommen
  • erof (down): erofkommen, erofgoen
  • erëm (back): erëmkommen (to come back)
  • also eriwwer (over, across): eriwwerkommen (to come over)

2. One prefix for both directions
English says come in and go in. Luxembourgish uses the same prefix, and the verb shows the direction: Kommt eran! (Come in, towards me.) Gitt eran! (Go in, away from me.)

3. Where the prefix goes
These are separable verbs:

Verbs of movement like kommen and goen form the perfect with sinn: Si sinn erakomm.

4. Eran and the n-rule
Like un and an, eran keeps its n only before a vowel and before d, h, n, t and z. Before other consonants it becomes era:

  • erakommen, eragoen, erafalen
  • but eranhuelen, erandroen, eranzéien

At the end of a clause, the n stays: Kommt eran!

5. From where, to where
A place phrase often goes with the prefix. Use an + accusative for the goal and aus + dative for the starting point: an de Buttek erakommen, aus dem Kino erauskommen. See two-way prepositions.

6. Erëm on its own
As a separate word, erëm usually means again: D'Präisser ginn erëm erop. (Prices are going up again.)

Examples (6)

  1. Kommt eran!

    Come in!

    At the end of the clause, eran keeps its n.

  2. Mir sinn an de Buttek erakomm.

    We came into the shop.

    The participle erakomm is used with sinn.

  3. Ech komme gläich erof.

    I'll be right down.

    Erof goes to the end of the main clause.

  4. Wéi mir aus dem Kino erauskoumen, huet et gereent.

    When we came out of the cinema, it was raining.

    In the subordinate clause, the prefix and the verb stay together.

  5. D'Präisser ginn erëm erop.

    Prices are going up again.

    Here erëm means again, and erop belongs to eropgoen.

  6. Mir sinn eréischt an der Nuecht aus der Vakanz erëmkomm.

    We only got back from our holiday in the night.

Common Mistakes

  • Dropping the n of eran at the end of the clause.

    Kommt era!
    Kommt eran!

    The n-rule never drops the n before punctuation, so eran keeps its n at the end of the clause.

  • Using hunn in the perfect of a verb of movement.

    Mir hunn an de Buttek erakomm.
    Mir sinn an de Buttek erakomm.

    Kommen and goen take sinn in the perfect, and so do erakommen and eragoen.

  • Leaving the prefix before other words in a main clause.

    Ech kommen erof gläich.
    Ech komme gläich erof.

    A separable prefix goes to the very end of the main clause, after words like gläich.

How It Connects

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

Direction Prefixes: eran- / eraus- / erop- / erof-Level 4Direction Prefixes: Eran-, Eraus-, Erop-, Erof-

Learn This First

Before Direction Prefixes: Eran-, Eraus-, Erop-, Erof-, learn Separable Verbs and Going Places: An, Op and Bei.

Words in This Pattern

eran-eraus-erop-erof-erëm-