The Luxembourgish Alphabet

Level 1

Luxembourgish is written with the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, plus ä, é and ë. The German letter ß is never used: you write ss instead, as in Strooss (street).

How It Works

The basic alphabet is the same 26 letters that English uses: a to z. On top of these, three vowel letters with marks are part of everyday spelling:

  • ä, as in Männer (men) and Zäit (time)
  • é, as in drénken (to drink) and Stéck (piece)
  • ë, as in Bësch (woods) and mëll (soft)

Each one stands for its own sound, so the mark matters. Männer means men, but manner means less. See the many e sounds for how to say them.

No ß. German writes Straße and Fuß, but Luxembourgish writes Strooss and Fouss. A sharp s sound is always written ss, whether the vowel before it is long or short.

Letters you will see less often. The letters c, q, x and y turn up mainly in names and loanwords: Café, Box, Hobby. Q also appears as qu in a few Luxembourgish words, such as Quetsch (a kind of plum) and quaken (to quack). The letters ö and ü mostly appear in words that came through German, such as Büro (office), Schüler (pupil) and Süden (south).

French accents. Some French words keep their own spelling and accents, such as Crème, Garçon and Arrêt (bus stop). See French loanwords.

The spelling of every word follows one set of official rules. Read official spelling to learn where to check a word.

Examples (5)

  1. D'Strooss ass wéinst Aarbechte gespaart.

    The street is closed because of roadworks.

    Strooss is written with ss. Luxembourgish never uses the German ß.

  2. Ech hunn ze vill Aarbecht um Büro.

    I have too much work at the office.

    Büro has ü, a letter found mostly in words that came through German.

  3. D'Kanner spillen am Bësch.

    The children are playing in the woods.

    The ë in Bësch is a short uh sound.

  4. D'Männer drénken e Béier.

    The men are drinking a beer.

    This sentence uses ä, é and the gliding vowel éi.

  5. D'Anna ësst eng Quetsch.

    Anna is eating a plum.

    Quetsch is a Luxembourgish word written with qu.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing the German letter ß.

    Ech wunnen an der Straße.
    Ech wunnen an der Strooss.

    Luxembourgish has no ß. Write ss, and spell the word the Luxembourgish way: Strooss.

  • Leaving out the marks on ä, é and ë.

    D'Manner drenken e Beier.
    D'Männer drénken e Béier.

    The marks show different sounds. Without them, Männer (men) looks like manner, which means less.

How It Connects

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The Luxembourgish AlphabetLevel 1

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