ze + Adjective
Too: Ze + Adjective
ze + adjective = too …: Dat ass ze deier. (That is too expensive.)
How It Works
The basic pattern
Put ze directly before the adjective or adverb:
- Dat ass ze deier. (That is too expensive.)
- De Kaffi ass ze waarm. (The coffee is too hot.)
- Du kënns ze spéit. (You are too late.)
- Du fiers ze séier! (You are driving too fast!)
After sinn the adjective has no ending, as usual (see adjective after sinn).
Too much and too little
With a noun, use ze vill (too much, too many) or ze wéineg (too little, too few): Ech iessen ze vill Fleesch, Mir hunn ze wéineg Zäit. Ze cannot stand directly before a noun.
Much too
To make it stronger, put vill before ze: vill ze deier (much too expensive). The order is vill ze + adjective, while ze vill + noun means too much.
Too … to do something
Add a fir ... ze phrase to say what is not possible: De Kaffi ass ze waarm fir ze drénken.
Ze or och?
English uses too for two different ideas. Too hot is ze waarm, but me too or I am coming too uses och: Ech kommen och.
Spelling
German speakers should note the spelling: Luxembourgish writes ze, never zu, in this meaning. The same little word ze also comes before infinitives (ze + infinitive), where it means to.
Examples (6)
- Dat ass ze deier.
That is too expensive.
- De Kaffi ass ze waarm fir ze drénken.
The coffee is too hot to drink.
Word by Word: The coffee is too warm for to drink.
Fir … ze adds what the heat prevents.
- Du kënns ze spéit.
You are too late.
Word by Word: You come too late.
- Du fiers ze séier!
You are driving too fast!
Word by Word: You drive too fast!
Ze also works with adverbs.
- Ech iessen ze vill Fleesch.
I eat too much meat.
Before a noun, use ze vill.
- An deem Buttek ass d’Uebst vill ze deier.
In that shop the fruit is much too expensive.
Word by Word: In that shop is the fruit much too dear.
Vill before ze makes it stronger.
Common Mistakes
Using ze for too in the sense of also.
Ech kommen ze.Ech kommen och.Ze means too only in the sense of more than is good. For also or as well, use och.
Putting ze directly before a noun.
Ech hunn ze Aarbecht.Ech hunn ze vill Aarbecht.Ze needs an adjective, an adverb or a word like vill or wéineg after it. With a noun, say ze vill or ze wéineg.
Using the German spelling zu.
Dat ass zu deier.Dat ass ze deier.In Luxembourgish the word is always spelled ze.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Before Too: Ze + Adjective, learn Adjectives After Sinn.
Related Patterns
- och / nach / schonnAlso, Still and Already: Och, Nach, Schonn
Och translates too in the sense of also; ze only means excessively.
Level 2 - vill / e bëssen / e puerQuantities: Vill, E Bëssen and E Puer
Ze vill and ze wéineg combine ze with amount words.
Level 2 - fir ... zeIn Order to: Fir ... Ze
Ze waarm fir ze drénken says what the excess prevents.
Level 3 - ze + InfinitiveThe Infinitive with Ze
The same word ze also marks an infinitive, with a different meaning.
Level 3 - genuchEnough: Genuch
Genuch (enough) is the opposite idea: grouss genuch.
Level 3
Words in This Pattern
Practice ze + Adjective in Bubblegum
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