Naming the Topic First

Level 5

De Paul, dee kennen ech gutt. (Paul, I know him well.) First name the topic, then pick it up with deen, déi, dat or do, followed directly by the verb.

How It Works

1. How it works
This is very common in speech. You name what you want to talk about, add a comma, and then continue with a pronoun that points back to it:

  • De Paul, dee kennen ech gutt. (Paul, I know him well.)
  • Dee Film, dee muss ee gesinn hunn. (That film, you have to have seen it.)
  • Meng Schwëster, déi wunnt zanter Joren zu Esch. (My sister has lived in Esch for years.)

2. Word order
The pronoun is the first element of the clause, so the verb follows it at once. The subject, if it is not the pronoun, comes after the verb: dee kennen ech gutt. See Putting Something Else First.

3. Choosing the pronoun
Use the gender and number of the topic and the case of its role:

  • masculine deen (n-rule: dee), feminine and plural déi, neuter dat
  • dative deem (masculine and neuter), där (feminine), deenen (plural): Dem Här Weber, deem hunn ech de Schlëssel ginn.
  • for places: do: Zu Paräis, do war ech nach ni.

4. Not a relative clause
It looks like a relative clause, but the verb is in second place, not at the end. In a relative clause, De Mann, deen ech gutt kennen, ..., the sentence continues afterwards. Compare also wat ... ugeet, which introduces a topic in a more formal way.

Examples (6)

  1. De Paul, dee kennen ech gutt.

    Paul, I know him well.

    Dee is deen without its n before k; it is the object here.

  2. Dee Film, dee muss ee gesinn hunn.

    That film, you have to have seen it.

  3. Meng Schwëster, déi wunnt zanter Joren zu Esch.

    My sister has lived in Esch for years.

    Here déi is the subject.

  4. Dem Här Weber, deem hunn ech de Schlëssel ginn.

    Mr Weber, I gave him the key.

    He is the receiver, so the dative deem is used.

  5. Zu Paräis, do war ech nach ni.

    Paris, I have never been there.

    For a place, do picks up the topic.

  6. Déi Schong, déi hunn ech gëschter kaaft.

    Those shoes, I bought them yesterday.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the verb at the end, as in a relative clause.

    De Paul, deen ech gutt kennen.
    De Paul, dee kennen ech gutt.

    This is a main clause, so the verb comes right after the pronoun. With the verb at the end, it becomes an unfinished relative clause.

  • Using the wrong case for the pronoun.

    Dem Här Weber, deen hunn ech de Schlëssel ginn.
    Dem Här Weber, deem hunn ech de Schlëssel ginn.

    Mr Weber is the receiver, a dative role, so the pronoun must be the dative deem.

How It Connects

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

Naming the Topic FirstLevel 5

Learn This First

Before Naming the Topic First, learn That One: Deen, Déi and Dat and Putting Something Else First.

Words in This Pattern

deendéi