The N-Rule With Verbs and Pronouns

Level 2

The n-rule is not only for articles. Verbs such as kommen, hunn and sinn and pronouns such as hien lose their final n before most consonants: Mir komme muer, Si hu Kanner, Hie kënnt.

How It Works

Which words it affects
The n-rule applies to every word that ends in -n or -nn in a weak, unstressed way. Besides the articles, that includes:

  • verb forms in -en: mir kommen → mir komme, si wëllen → si wëlle, infinitives such as iessen → iesse
  • verbs that end in -nn: hunn → hu, sinn → si, ginn → gi
  • pronouns: hien → hie, hinnen → hinne

How to decide
The ending depends only on the first sound of the word that follows, whatever kind of word it is:

  • Keep the n before a vowel and before d, h, n, t, z: Mir kommen haut. Si hunn Zäit. Hien ass midd. Mir sinn doheem.
  • Drop the n before every other consonant: Mir komme muer. Si hu Kanner. Hie kënnt. Mir gi fort.
  • Keep the n before a comma, a full stop, a question mark or any other punctuation, even at the end of a clause: Ech wëll e Kaffi drénken. See the n before punctuation.
  • You may choose before si, se, säin, seng, sech and sou: both hu si and hunn si are correct.

Perfect tense and modal verbs
The rule works on auxiliaries and infinitives too, so it shows up in almost every longer sentence: Ech hu Kaffi kaaft but Ech hunn hatt gesinn; Mir wëllen iesse goen (wëllen keeps its n before the vowel of iessen, and iessen drops its n before the g of goen).

Words that do not change
Most nouns and adjectives, such as Mann or blann, keep their n before any consonant. Those that end in -en, such as Meedchen, follow the rule (e Meedche gesinn), and some that end in -een or -äin may drop it. See nouns and adjectives that keep their n.

Examples (6)

  1. Mir komme muer.

    We are coming tomorrow.

    Word by Word: We come tomorrow.

    Kommen drops its n before the m of muer.

  2. Mir kommen haut.

    We are coming today.

    Word by Word: We come today.

    The n stays before h.

  3. Si hunn Zäit, awer si hu kee Geld.

    They have time, but they have no money.

    Word by Word: They have time, but they have no money.

    Hunn keeps nn before the Z of Zäit and becomes hu before the k of kee. Keen also becomes kee before G.

  4. Hien ass midd, mee hie schafft nach.

    He is tired, but he is still working.

    Word by Word: He is tired, but he works still.

    Hien keeps its n before the vowel of ass and becomes hie before the s of schafft.

  5. Ech hunn hinne gehollef.

    I helped them.

    Word by Word: I have them helped.

    Hunn keeps nn before h, while the pronoun hinnen becomes hinne before g.

  6. Mir wëllen iesse goen.

    We want to go and eat.

    Word by Word: We want eat go.

    Wëllen keeps its n before a vowel. The infinitive iessen drops its n before goen.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the n of a verb before a consonant that does not protect it.

    Mir kommen muer.
    Mir komme muer.

    M is not one of d, h, n, t, z, so the n of kommen is dropped in speech and in writing.

  • Dropping the n before z, d, h, n or t.

    Si hu Zäit.
    Si hunn Zäit.

    The consonants d, h, n, t and z protect the n, so hunn stays hunn before Zäit.

  • Dropping the n of hien before a vowel.

    Hie ass midd.
    Hien ass midd.

    Before a vowel the n is always kept. Hie is only used before a consonant that does not protect the n, as in hie schafft.

How It Connects

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The N-Rule With Verbs and PronounsLevel 2

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