Luxembourgish (Lëtzebuergesch) is a West Germanic language spoken by approximately 400,000 people. It is one of the official languages of Luxembourg and is recognised as a minority language in Belgium.

For anyone who knows German, you will see a great deal of similarities between Luxembourgish and German in terms of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.

Using (in)definite articles in nominative

A(n):

> en (masculine & neuter)

> eng (feminine)

The:

> den (masculine - often shortened to ‘de’)

> d’ (feminine, neuter & plural)

Essential verbs & personal pronouns in nominative

To have:

ech hunn (i have)

du hues (you have inf.)

hien/sie/hatt huet (he/she/it has*)

mir hunn (we have)

dir/Dir hutt (you all have inf./you (all) have form.)

si hunn (they have)

To be:

ech sinn (i am)

du bass (you are inf.)

hien/si/hatt ass (he/she/it is*)

mir sinn (we are)

dir/Dir sidd (you all are inf./you (all) are form.)

si sinn (they are)

*Lëtzebuergesch uses it (hatt) to refer to females as opposed to she(si)



Conjugation

Regular (spillen):

ech spillen (i play)

du spills (you play inf.)

hien/si/hatt spillt (he/she/it plays)

mir spillen (we play)

dir/Dir spillt (you all play inf./you (all) play form.)

si spiellen (they play)

Irregular (kafen):

ech kafen (i buy)

du keefs (you buy inf.)

hien/si/hatt keeft (he/she/it buys)

mir kafen (we buy)

dir/Dir kaaft) (you al buy inf./you (all) buy form.)

si kafen (they buy)

This is only one example to show where the irregularities occur - usually just in du & hien/si/hatt, but sometimes also in dir/Dir.

10 Basic Nouns

Mann(Männer) [M]. - Man

Fra(en) [F]. - Woman

Meedchen(Meedercher) [N]. - Girl

Bouf(Bouwen) [M]. - Boy

Kand(Kanner) [N]. - Child

Brout [N]. - Bread

Waasser [N]. - Water

Gromper(en) [F]. - Potato

Lesel(en) [M]. - Donkey

Heem(er) [N]. - Home

As with German, there are 3 genders, all nouns capitalised and and no way of knowing what a noun’s gender or plural is without looking it up :)))) yay :)))).

5 Basic Sentences

Ech sinn en Mann - I am a man

Hien drénkt Waasser - He drinks water

Si hunn en Meedchen - They have a girl

Du bass midd an rosen - You are tired and angry

Hatt ass eng Fra - She is a woman

Enjoy :)