One Official Spelling

Level 1

People speak Luxembourgish a little differently from region to region, but there is one written standard. It follows the official spelling rules from 2019, and the online dictionary LOD shows how to write each word.

How It Works

Luxembourgish spelling mostly follows the sounds of the language. A few big ideas explain a lot of it:

  • Vowel length is shown by doubling. A long vowel before two consonants is written twice: Strooss, laang. See long and short vowels.
  • No German silent h for length. German writes Ausnahme, but Luxembourgish writes Ausnam (exception).
  • The n-rule is written, not only spoken. You write Mir si muer net doheem, not sinn, because the n is dropped before m. See n-rule.
  • No ß. Write ss: Strooss, Fouss.

Where to check a word. The Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire (LOD) gives the standard spelling of each word, together with its article, its plural or its verb forms, and a recording of how it sounds. When you learn a new noun, look it up there and note its article too.

More than one correct form. For some words the rules accept two spellings, and both are correct. The LOD lists them. See accepted spelling variants.

Older books. Earlier spelling rules came out in 1946, 1975 and 1999, so older texts may spell some words differently. See older spellings. The spoken language also varies by region, but the written standard stays the same. See regional variation.

Examples (5)

  1. Wéi schreift een dat op Lëtzebuergesch?

    How do you write that in Luxembourgish?

    Word by Word: How writes one that in Luxembourgish?

  2. Kuck am Dictionnaire no!

    Look it up in the dictionary!

    The LOD is the dictionary that shows the standard spelling.

  3. Mir si muer net doheem.

    We aren't home tomorrow.

    The official spelling writes the n-rule: sinn becomes si before the m of muer.

  4. Hie schwätzt Lëtzebuergesch a Franséisch.

    He speaks Luxembourgish and French.

    The n-rule is written here too: hien becomes hie before the s of schwätzt, and an becomes a before the F of Franséisch.

  5. Ech iessen alles, mat Ausnam vu Fësch.

    I eat everything except fish.

    Word by Word: I eat everything, with exception of fish.

    Ausnam is written without the silent h that German uses in Ausnahme.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding a German silent h to show a long vowel.

    Dat ass eng Ausnahme.
    Dat ass eng Ausnam.

    Luxembourgish spelling does not use a silent h to mark a long vowel.

  • Writing the n that the n-rule drops.

    Mir sinn muer net doheem.
    Mir si muer net doheem.

    The official spelling follows the n-rule in writing. Before most consonants, sinn is written si.

How It Connects

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One Official SpellingLevel 1

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Before One Official Spelling, learn The Luxembourgish Alphabet.

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Patterns that build on this one.