Pronouns & the present tense

Every sentence needs a subject and a verb. Nail the six pronouns and the present tense of 'sinn', 'hunn' and regular -en verbs, and you can already say who you are and what you do.

The personal pronouns

Luxembourgish has one set of subject pronouns you will use in every single sentence. Learn them cold — the exam rewards accurate, confident basics far more than fancy vocabulary.

Note two things. First, 'Dir' (you) is both the plural 'you' and the polite form for one person, and in that polite sense it is written with a capital D. In the Sproochentest the examiner addresses you with 'Dir', and you answer with 'ech'. Second, 'hien' (he) drops its final -n before a consonant and becomes 'hie' — 'hien ass' but 'hie schafft'. That is the Eifeler Regel, which you will meet again and again.

ech	I
du	you (informal, one person)
hien / hatt / si	he / it / she	'hien' becomes 'hie' before a consonant (Eifeler Regel).
mir	we
dir / Dir	you (plural / polite)	Capital 'Dir' is the polite form the examiner uses with you.
si / se	they	'se' is the unstressed form: 'Wou wunne se?'

The verb 'sinn' (to be)

'Sinn' is irregular and extremely frequent — it introduces your name, your job, your mood and your nationality. Memorise the full paradigm.

Watch one trap: age uses 'sinn', not 'hunn', exactly like German. 'Wéi al bass du?' — 'Ech sinn drësseg Joer al.'

ech sinn	I am
du bass	you are
hien / hatt / si ass	he / it / she is
mir sinn	we are
dir sidd	you are
si sinn	they are
Ech sinn zu Lëtzebuerg doheem.	I'm at home in Luxembourg.	'sinn' keeps its -n before 'zu' (z).
Ech si frou.	I'm happy.	before 'frou' (f) the -n drops to 'si'.

Try it

Ech Affekot vu Beruff. (sinn)

1st person singular of 'sinn'.

Wéi al du? (sinn)

Age uses 'sinn', not 'hunn' — 2nd person singular.

The verb 'hunn' (to have)

'Hunn' is the other workhorse: you use it for possessions, family and time, and — crucially — as the auxiliary of the perfect tense ('Ech hunn geschafft'). Its forms do not look much like the infinitive, so learn them separately.

ech hunn	I have
du hues	you have
hien / hatt / si huet	he / it / she has
mir hunn	we have
dir hutt	you have
si hunn	they have
Ech hunn zwee Kanner.	I have two children.	'hunn' before 'zwee' (z) keeps the -n.
Mir hu véier Deeg fräi.	We have four days off.	before 'véier' (v) the -n drops to 'hu'.

Regular verbs in the present

Most Luxembourgish verbs are regular. Take the infinitive (it ends in -en: wunnen, schaffen, spillen), remove -en to get the stem, and add the endings below.

The ech, mir and si (they) forms all end in -en and look like the infinitive. The endings that actually change are: du + s, and hien/hatt/si + t. A few verbs also shift their stem vowel in the du and hien forms — 'maachen' gives 'du méchs, hie mécht' — so listen for that.

ech wunnen	I live
du wunns	you live
hien / hatt / si wunnt	he / it / she lives
mir wunnen / dir wunnt / si wunnen	we / you / they live
Ech schaffen an enger Kanzlei.	I work in a law office.	'schaffen' keeps -en before 'an' (a vowel).
Hie mécht dacks Sport.	He often does sport.	'maachen' shifts its vowel: du méchs, hie mécht.
Mir spille Foussball.	We play football.	'spillen' loses its -n before 'Foussball' (Eifeler Regel).

Try it

Ech zu Diddeleng. (wunnen)

1st person singular keeps the full -en ending.

Wou du? (schaffen)

2nd person singular is stem + s.