selwer

Myself, Yourself: Selwer

Level 3

Selwer stresses who does something: that person and nobody else. Ech hunn et selwer gemaach. (I did it myself.) De Chef kënnt selwer. (The boss is coming himself.)

How It Works

1. Doing something yourself
Selwer means that the person does it without help, or in person rather than through someone else:

  • Ech hunn et selwer gemaach. (I did it myself.)
  • Dëse Kuch hunn ech selwer gebak. (I baked this cake myself.)
  • De Chef kënnt selwer. (The boss is coming himself.)

2. One form for everyone
English changes the word: myself, yourself, herself, ourselves. Luxembourgish always says selwer: Mir hunn et selwer gemaach. Dir kënnt selwer wielen.

3. Where it goes
Selwer comes after the conjugated verb and after a short object, but before a participle or an infinitive at the end: Ech hunn et selwer gemaach. It is stressed when you say it. It can also follow the subject directly for extra weight: Ech selwer weess et och net. (I myself don't know either.)

4. Sech selwer: to or about oneself
When the person is also the object, use the reflexive pronoun and add selwer to make it clear:

  • Hie schwätzt mat sech selwer. (He is talking to himself.)
  • Du belitts dech selwer. (You are lying to yourself.)

The pronoun changes with the person, as with other reflexive verbs, but selwer stays the same.

5. Selwer or selwecht?
They look alike but mean different things. Selwer means oneself. Selwecht means the same and goes before a noun with endings: dee selwechte Wee (the same way). See Selwecht.

Examples (6)

  1. Ech hunn et selwer gemaach.

    I did it myself.

    Selwer comes before the participle at the end.

  2. De Chef kënnt selwer.

    The boss is coming himself.

    Here selwer means in person.

  3. Dëse Kuch hunn ech selwer gebak.

    I baked this cake myself.

  4. Maach dat selwer!

    Do it yourself!

  5. Hie schwätzt mat sech selwer.

    He is talking to himself.

    The reflexive sech names the person, and selwer adds weight.

  6. Dir kënnt selwer wielen.

    You can choose for yourselves.

    Selwer has the same form for dir and Dir as for ech.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a reflexive pronoun to mean "without help".

    Ech hunn et mech gemaach.
    Ech hunn et selwer gemaach.

    Mech is an object pronoun. To say that you did it without help, use selwer.

  • Using selwer before a noun to mean "the same".

    Mir hunn de selwer Wee geholl.
    Mir hunn de selwechte Wee geholl.

    Selwer means oneself and never goes before a noun. The same is selwecht, with an ending.

  • Leaving out the reflexive pronoun.

    Hie schwätzt mat selwer.
    Hie schwätzt mat sech selwer.

    Selwer cannot stand in for a pronoun after a preposition. Say mat sech selwer, mat mir selwer and so on.

How It Connects

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

selwerLevel 3Myself, Yourself: Selwer

Learn This First

Before Myself, Yourself: Selwer, learn Reflexive Verbs With Sech.

Words in This Pattern

selwer