Is Luxembourgish hard to learn? An honest guide for beginners

Luxembourgish has a reputation for being hard, mostly because few people learn it. In practice its grammar is smaller than German's, much of its vocabulary is familiar to English, French and German speakers, and the hardest part is often finding people who will speak it with you. An honest look at what is easy, what takes work, and how long it takes.

Updated · 5 min read

Lire ce guide en français

Luxembourg City: the Grund quarter in the Alzette valley, seen from the Corniche
Photo: Cayambe, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized.

In short: for most adults Luxembourgish is a moderately difficult language — easier than its reputation if you speak German, Dutch or English, a little harder from French or Portuguese. The real obstacles are the n-rule, word order, and a country where people switch to French or English to help you. A beginner can reach spoken A2 — the level of the Sproochentest — in a matter of months with regular practice.

What makes Luxembourgish easier than you think

  • A small set of tenses. Day to day you need the present and one past tense, the perfect: *ech hunn … gemaach, ech sinn … gaangen*. Most verbs have no simple past at all — see the past tense and the tables for hunn and sinn.
  • Words you already know. From French: *Merci, Vëlo, Kaddo, Bic, Trottoir, Portmonni*. From German or English: *Haus, Waasser, Brout, Fënster, Schoul*. The common words and everyday nouns lists show how many are recognisable.
  • Regular spelling. Once you know a handful of rules — *ë*, *éi*, *ou*, the capital on every noun — you can read words aloud. Our spelling guide has them all.
  • Friendly verbs. Many everyday verbs are regular: schaffen, wunnen, spillen, léieren. The present tense guide shows the one pattern most of them follow.

Ech soen Iech Merci fir Är wäertvoll Hëllef!

Literally: Thank you for your valuable help!

Meaning: *Merci* is borrowed from French, *Hëllef* is German *Hilfe* — Luxembourgish mixes both. More in thank you in Luxembourgish.

What takes real work

1. The n-rule

A final *-n* disappears before most consonants and stays before vowels and a few letters: *gudde Moien* but *gudden Owend*, *ech hunn* but *ech hu Famill*. It is regular, but it touches articles, adjectives and verbs at once. The n-rule guide has the full list, with audio.

Gudden Owend, wéi geet et Iech?

Literally: Good evening — how are you?

Meaning: *gudden* keeps its n before the vowel of *Owend*. See good evening.

2. Word order

The conjugated verb comes second in a statement, first in a yes/no question, and at the very end after *datt* (that), *well* (because) and *wann* (if). English speakers find this the hardest habit to build; German and Dutch speakers already have it. See word order and how to ask questions.

Ech si frou, datt dir esou séier konnt kommen.

Literally: I'm glad you could come so quickly.

Meaning: After *datt* the verbs go to the end: *konnt kommen*.

3. Long compound words

Luxembourgish builds nouns by gluing words together, as German does — *Bréifkëscht* (letterbox), *Gebuertsdag* (birthday). Break them into their parts and they become easy.

Eng ganz Rei vu Wierder ginn aus zwee Substantiver zesummegesat.

Literally: A good many words are made up of two nouns.

4. Everyone switches to French or English

This is the obstacle learners mention most. According to the 2021 census, 61.2% of the residents who answered usually speak Luxembourgish at home, at work or at school — but 50.8% usually speak French and 25.7% English (STATEC, RP2021 No. 8). People switch to help you. Ask them not to, and practise where Luxembourgish is the norm: the phrases for everyday situations, a language café, or a teacher.

Is it harder from your language?

You speak…What helpsWhat to watch
GermanGrammar, word order, most vocabularyFrench loanwords; the n-rule; *ech* not *ich*
DutchWord order, the perfect with hunn/sinn, many wordsThe *ch* sounds; French loanwords — see Luxembourgish vs Dutch
EnglishShared Germanic words (*Haus, Waasser, Brout*)Word order and noun genders
FrenchHundreds of loanwords (*Vëlo, Kaddo, Trottoir*)Germanic grammar — our guide for French speakers
PortugueseFrench loanwords if you know FrenchPronunciation and word order — guia em português

How long does it take?

There is no official number of hours per level, and anyone who promises one is guessing. Two official markers help. The INL's intensive Moving Languages programme takes adult beginners to spoken A2 in eight weeks with 15 hours of lessons a week (luxembourg.public.lu) — that is the speaking level of the nationality test. And the State's language leave covers up to 200 hours of Luxembourgish courses over a career (Guichet.lu).

Learning alongside work, most people move faster with a little every day than with one long evening a week: 16 words or sentences a day, recalled rather than reread, plus ten minutes of listening. What each level means in practice — what you can say at A1, A2 and B1 — is in CEFR levels explained; a day-by-day exam plan is in the 60-day Sproochentest plan.

Ech sinn an engem Cours, fir Lëtzebuergesch ze léieren.

Literally: I'm on a course to learn Luxembourgish.

How to make it easier

  1. Start with what you say every day: hello, please, thank you, excuse me, how are you — and the 32 greetings and everyday phrases.
  2. Learn words by topic, the ones your life needs: food, family, work, health, numbers and time.
  3. Get the core verbs right — sinn, hunn, goen, kommen, maachen, kënnen — and the 100 everyday verbs.
  4. Listen to native speakers every day. Every sentence on this page plays a recording from the Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire; our pronunciation guide has the sounds.
  5. Speak with a real person every week. On Edluxio you book 1-to-1 online lessons with independent teachers, among them native Luxembourgish speakers in Luxembourg; a trial lesson is refunded in full if the first one isn't right for you.
  6. Avoid the classic traps — they are listed in 12 common mistakes learners make.

Make it a five-minute habit

16Word teaches Luxembourgish 16 words and sentences at a time, with native recordings, spaced review and a Blocks game between answers — from any of 36 languages. Free to start.

Keep learning

Questions about learning Luxembourgish

Is Luxembourgish hard to learn?

Moderately. The grammar is smaller than German's and much vocabulary is familiar, but the n-rule, word order and the lack of everyday practice take work. German, Dutch and English speakers usually find it easier than French or Portuguese speakers.

Is Luxembourgish harder than German?

For most learners it is not: it has fewer tenses in daily use (mostly the perfect) and simpler case endings. It has fewer learning materials, and you will hear French loanwords German doesn't use.

How long does it take to learn Luxembourgish?

There is no official figure. The INL's intensive Moving Languages programme takes beginners to spoken A2 in eight weeks at 15 hours a week; learning part-time, a steady daily routine over several months is realistic for A2.

Do I need German or French before learning Luxembourgish?

No. Either helps — German with grammar, French with vocabulary — but you can start Luxembourgish directly. Courses and apps exist from English and many other languages.

Why do people switch to French or English when I speak Luxembourgish?

To help you. Tell them you are learning and ask them to keep speaking Luxembourgish — most people are happy to.

Official sources

Keep going