-eneen / -enaner
Each Other with Prepositions: -eneen / -enaner
-eneen means each other and joins its preposition in one word: Si schwätze mateneen. (They talk with each other.)
How It Works
1. Preposition + eneen = one word
- mateneen (with each other): Si schwätze mateneen.
- fireneen (for each other): Mir sinn ëmmer fireneen do.
- openeen (on top of each other): D'Bicher leien openeen.
- vuneneen (apart): Eis Kanner sinn dräi Joer vuneneen.
- hannereneen (one after the other, in a row): fënnef Mol hannereneen
2. Without a preposition
When each other is a plain object, Luxembourgish normally uses the reflexive pronouns eis, iech and sech (reflexive verbs): Mir gesinn eis muer. (We will see each other tomorrow.) Si kennen sech zanter Joren. (They have known each other for years.)
3. The n-rule
The final n drops before most consonants (n-rule): D'Kanner hu matenee gespillt. It stays before a punctuation mark: Si schwätze mateneen.
4. Eneen or enaner
The Luxembourgish Online Dictionary (LOD) lists both -eneen and -enaner with the same meaning, so the same words can also end in -enaner. The official spelling rules use the -eneen forms in their own examples, such as vuneneen and hannereneen.
Examples (6)
- Si schwätze mateneen.
They talk with each other.
Mat and eneen are written as one word.
- Mir sinn ëmmer fireneen do.
We are always there for each other.
- D'Bicher leien openeen.
The books are lying on top of each other.
- Eis Kanner sinn dräi Joer vuneneen.
Our children are three years apart.
- D'Kanner hu matenee gespillt.
The children played with each other.
Mateneen loses its n before the g of gespillt.
- Mir gesinn eis muer.
We'll see each other tomorrow.
Without a preposition, the reflexive eis expresses each other.
Common Mistakes
Writing the preposition and eneen as two words.
Si schwätze mat eneen.Si schwätze mateneen.A preposition and -eneen form one word: mateneen, openeen, vuneneen.
Keeping the n of mateneen before a consonant.
D'Kanner hu mateneen gespillt.D'Kanner hu matenee gespillt.Mateneen ends in -en, so it follows the n-rule and loses its n before g.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Before Each Other With Prepositions: -eneen / -enaner, learn Reflexive Verbs With Sech.
Related Patterns
- Dative Reflexives: mir / dirDative Reflexives: Mir and Dir
The reflexive pronoun can also stand for each other in the dative: Mir hëllefen eis.
Level 3 - The N-Rule (Eifeler Regel)
Words with -eneen lose their n before most consonants.
Level 1 - Prepositions With the Dative
Mat, vun and bei, the most common prepositions in these words, are dative prepositions.
Level 2 - do- + PrepositionIt with Prepositions: Domat, Dofir, Dorop
Like do + preposition, -eneen joins the preposition into one word.
Level 3
Words in This Pattern
Practice -eneen / -enaner in Bubblegum
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