ouni ... ze
Without Doing: Ouni ... Ze
ouni + ... + ze + infinitive = without doing: Hien ass gaangen, ouni Äddi ze soen.
How It Works
To say that someone does something without doing something else, use ouni ... ze. English uses an -ing form, but Luxembourgish uses ze and the infinitive:
- Hien ass gaangen, ouni Äddi ze soen. (He left without saying goodbye.)
- Schwätz net, ouni ze iwwerleeën! (Don't speak without thinking!)
Word order. It works like fir ... ze: ouni first, ze and the infinitive last, and everything else in between: ouni eng Paus ze maachen. A separable verb takes ze in the middle: ouni d'Dier zouzemaachen. See separable verbs with ze.
Comma. The official spelling always puts a comma before an ouni ... ze group, even a short one: Maach, wat si seet, ouni ze maulen.
Same subject only. The person in the main clause is also the one who does not do the second thing. If it is someone else, use ouni datt with a full clause: Hie war fort, ouni datt een et gemierkt huet.
Ouni on its own. Ouni is also an ordinary preposition before a noun: ouni Zocker (without sugar). See accusative prepositions. Before an infinitive, you always need ze.
Examples (6)
- Hien ass gaangen, ouni Äddi ze soen.
He left without saying goodbye.
Ouni opens the group, and ze soen closes it.
- Si huet d'Buch gelies, ouni eng Paus ze maachen.
She read the book without taking a break.
The object eng Paus goes between ouni and ze.
- Laf net iwwer d'Strooss, ouni riets a lénks ze kucken!
Don't cross the street without looking right and left!
A command can also be followed by an ouni ... ze group.
- Schwätz net, ouni ze iwwerleeën!
Don't speak without thinking!
Ze stays in full before the vowel of iwwerleeën.
- Maach, wat si seet, ouni ze maulen.
Do what she says without grumbling.
Even a short ouni ze group has a comma.
- Hie war fort, ouni d'Dier zouzemaachen.
He was gone without closing the door.
Zoumaachen takes ze in the middle.
Common Mistakes
Using a full clause with a conjugated verb after ouni.
Hien ass gaangen, ouni hien Äddi gesot huet.Hien ass gaangen, ouni Äddi ze soen.When the subject is the same, ouni takes ze and an infinitive, not a conjugated verb.
Leaving out ze.
Hien ass gaangen, ouni Äddi soen.Hien ass gaangen, ouni Äddi ze soen.With a verb, ouni always needs ze before the infinitive.
Using ouni ... ze when someone else does the second action.
Hie war fort, ouni een et ze mierken.Hie war fort, ouni datt een et gemierkt huet.Ouni ... ze cannot have its own subject. When another person is involved, use ouni datt with a full clause.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Before Without Doing: Ouni ... ze, learn In Order To: Fir ... ze.
Related Patterns
- amplaz ... zeInstead of Doing: Amplaz ... Ze
Built the same way, meaning instead of doing something.
Level 4 - ze + InfinitiveThe Infinitive with Ze
The basic ze-infinitive that ouni ... ze builds on.
Level 3 - ouni datt / amplaz dattOuni Datt and Amplaz Datt
The full-clause version when the second action has its own subject.
Level 5 - Prepositions With the Accusative
Ouni is also a preposition before a noun: ouni Zocker.
Level 2 - ze Inside Separable Verbs
Separable verbs put ze in the middle: zouzemaachen.
Level 3
Words in This Pattern
Practice ouni ... ze in Bubblegum
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