Nouns Are Capitalized

Level 1

As in German, every noun gets a capital letter: Ech drénken e Kaffi (I drink a coffee). The short article d' stays lowercase inside a sentence (Ech gesinn d'Kand) and is capitalized only at the start: D'Kand spillt.

How It Works

All nouns. Names of things, people, places and ideas all start with a capital: Haus, Fra, Kaffi, Freed (joy). This helps you spot the nouns in a sentence.

The short article. d' is joined to the noun with an apostrophe, but the capital still goes on the noun: d'Kand. At the start of a sentence, the d becomes capital: D'Kand spillt. See d'.

Verbs used as nouns. When an infinitive is used as a noun, it is capitalized: D'Schreiwen ass him ëmmer liichtgefall (Writing always came easily to him).

Days and times. Days of the week are nouns: de Méindeg (Monday). But forms ending in -s are adverbs and stay lowercase: méindes (on Mondays), moies (in the morning), owes (in the evening). The words haut, muer and gëschter are also lowercase.

Polite you. The polite pronoun Dir and its forms Iech and Är are always capitalized: Hutt Dir Zäit? See Dir (polite you).

Languages. The name of a language is a noun: Ech schwätze Lëtzebuergesch. The adjective stays lowercase. See Lëtzebuergesch/lëtzebuergesch.

Examples (6)

  1. Ech drénken e Kaffi.

    I drink a coffee.

    Kaffi is a noun, so it starts with a capital.

  2. D'Kand spillt am Gaart.

    The child is playing in the garden.

    At the start of a sentence, d' becomes D'. Kand and Gaart are nouns.

  3. Ech gesinn d'Kand.

    I see the child.

    Inside the sentence, d' stays lowercase.

  4. Hutt Dir Zäit?

    Do you have time?

    The polite Dir is always capitalized.

  5. Ech schaffe méindes net.

    I don't work on Mondays.

    méindes is an adverb, so it stays lowercase.

  6. D'Schreiwen ass him ëmmer liichtgefall.

    Writing always came easily to him.

    Schreiwen is a verb used as a noun, so it is capitalized.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing nouns in lowercase, as in English.

    Ech drénken e kaffi.
    Ech drénken e Kaffi.

    Every noun starts with a capital letter, even in the middle of a sentence.

  • Capitalizing d' in the middle of a sentence.

    Ech gesinn D'Kand.
    Ech gesinn d'Kand.

    The capital goes on the noun. d' is capitalized only at the start of a sentence.

  • Capitalizing an adverb of time.

    Ech schaffe Méindes net.
    Ech schaffe méindes net.

    méindes (on Mondays) is an adverb, not a noun, so it is lowercase.

How It Connects

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

Nouns Are CapitalizedLevel 1

Learn This First

Before Nouns Are Capitalized, learn One Official Spelling.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.