Plurals by Vowel Change

Level 1

de Bam → d'Beem (trees), den Dag → d'Deeg (days), de Stull → d'Still (chairs). The new vowel alone shows the plural.

How It Works

1. Common patterns

  • a → ee: de Bam → d'Beem (trees), den Dag → d'Deeg (days)
  • a → ä: de Kapp → d'Käpp (heads), d'Hand → d'Hänn (hands), den Zant → d'Zänn (teeth)
  • a → ie: d'Stad → d'Stied (cities)
  • u → i: de Stull → d'Still (chairs), den Zuch → d'Zich (trains), den Numm → d'Nimm (names)
  • ue → ie: den Tuerm → d'Tierm (towers)
  • ou → éi: de Fouss → d'Féiss (feet), de Mount → d'Méint (months)
  • o → ë: den Hond → d'Hënn (dogs)

In Hand and Hond the final -nd also becomes -nn, and in Zant -nt becomes -nn: Hänn, Hënn, Zänn. Some nouns have a second accepted plural in the dictionary, such as Honn next to Hënn.

2. How to spot the plural
A masculine noun changes its article from den or de to d': de Bam → d'Beem. With feminine nouns, the article stays d', so the vowel and the verb do the work: D'Stad ass grouss but D'Stied si grouss.

3. Learn them as pairs
You cannot always guess the new vowel, so learn the singular and plural together. Knowing how the vowels are written helps you read them (see long and short vowels and e ee é ë and ä).

Examples (6)

  1. D'Beem am Park si ganz héich.

    The trees in the park are very tall.

    Bam → Beem.

  2. Ech bleiwen dräi Deeg hei.

    I am staying here for three days.

    Dag → Deeg.

  3. Mir brauchen nach véier Still.

    We still need four chairs.

    Stull → Still.

  4. D'Hënn schlofen.

    The dogs are sleeping.

    Hond → Hënn: o becomes ë and nd becomes nn.

  5. Meng Hänn si kal.

    My hands are cold.

    Hand → Hänn, a feminine noun.

  6. D'Zich sinn haut spéit.

    The trains are late today.

    Zuch → Zich.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding an ending to a noun that only changes its vowel.

    Am Gaart stinn zwee Bamen.
    Am Gaart stinn zwee Beem.

    Bam has no plural ending. Its plural is Beem.

  • Keeping the singular vowel with a plural verb.

    D'Stull sinn nei.
    D'Still sinn nei.

    The plural of Stull is Still. The singular would be de Stull ass nei.

  • Using the German plural.

    D'Bäume sinn al.
    D'Beem sinn al.

    The Luxembourgish plural of Bam is Beem.

How It Connects

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

Plurals by Vowel ChangeLevel 1

Learn This First

Before Plurals by Vowel Change, learn Plurals With -er and The Many E Sounds: E, EE, É, Ë and Ä.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.