Three Cases

Level 1

A case shows a noun's job in the sentence. Luxembourgish has three: nominative (the subject), accusative (the direct object) and dative (the indirect object and after many prepositions).

How It Works

Nominative and accusative look the same. Unlike German, the masculine article does not change for the object: Den Hond schléift (the subject) and Ech gesinn den Hond (the object).

  • Nominative and accusative: den (masculine), d' (feminine, neuter and plural)
  • Dative: dem (masculine and neuter), der (feminine), den (plural)

The indefinite article follows the same pattern: en and eng become engem and enger in the dative.

When is it dative? For the person who receives something (Ech ginn dem Hond Waasser), after verbs like hëllefen (to help), and after prepositions such as mat (with), bei (at) and vun (from).

Pronouns often change form. Some have three different forms, while others use one form for two cases: ech (I), mech (me), mir (to me); du, dech, dir; but hien, hien, him.

What about the genitive? It survives only in a few fixed phrases, such as Enn des Mounts (at the end of the month). To say whose something is, use the dative with a possessive: dem Mann säin Auto (the man's car). See dem Papp säin Auto.

Next steps: dative articles and object pronouns.

Examples (6)

  1. Den Hond schléift.

    The dog is sleeping.

    Den Hond is the subject, in the nominative.

  2. Ech gesinn den Hond.

    I see the dog.

    As the object, den Hond looks exactly the same.

  3. Ech ginn dem Hond Waasser.

    I give the dog water.

    The dog receives the water, so it is in the dative: dem Hond.

  4. Ech hëllefen der Fra.

    I'm helping the woman.

    hëllefen takes the dative, so d'Fra becomes der Fra.

  5. Hie gesäit mech, an ech gesinn hien.

    He sees me, and I see him.

    ech changes to mech as an object. hien looks the same as subject and object.

  6. Ech schwätze mat mengem Frënd.

    I'm talking with my friend.

    mat takes the dative, so mäi Frënd becomes mengem Frënd.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the nominative/accusative article where the dative is needed.

    Ech hëllefen d'Fra.
    Ech hëllefen der Fra.

    hëllefen takes a dative object, so the feminine article is der.

  • Using the subject pronoun as an object.

    Hie gesäit ech.
    Hie gesäit mech.

    As a direct object, ech changes to mech.

  • Using a German-style genitive to show who owns something.

    Dat ass den Auto des Mannes.
    Dat ass dem Mann säin Auto.

    Luxembourgish uses the dative with a possessive to show ownership.

How It Connects

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

Three CasesLevel 1

Learn This First

Before Three Cases, learn Three Noun Genders.

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Patterns that build on this one.