Luxembourgish spelling: capitals, long vowels, ë é ä, d' and the n-rule

Capital letters for nouns, double letters for long vowels, ë, é and ä, d' for “the”, and the disappearing n: how to read and write Luxembourgish, with examples from the official LOD dictionary and how to type the special letters.

Updated November 2, 2026 · 5 min read

Luxembourgish has an official spelling, maintained by the Zenter fir d'Lëtzebuerger Sprooch (ZLS) and used by the Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire (LOD), schools and the state. If you learnt Luxembourgish from signs and messages, you will have seen many home-made spellings; the rules below are the official ones, shown with LOD's own headwords. For the sounds behind the letters, read how to pronounce Luxembourgish.

1. Nouns start with a capital letter

As in German, every noun is capitalised, wherever it stands: *de Dokter, d'Apdikt, eng Wunneng*. Verbs, adjectives and pronouns are not — even the polite Dir is only capitalised because it is polite (pronouns).

2. Long vowels: doubled where the syllable is closed

A long vowel is written double — aa, ee, oo, uu — when a consonant closes the syllable, and single when the syllable is open (when the next syllable starts with a consonant + vowel). That is why one verb can change its spelling without changing its sound:

A few short, common words are exceptions — *Dag* (day) is long but written with one *a* — so when in doubt, check the word in LOD. A short vowel is often marked the other way: by doubling the consonant after it — *Patt, Kapp, Zopp*.

3. ë, é and ä

The accents are not decoration: they tell you which sound to make, and LOD lists every word with them. They appear in many of the commonest words — Lëtzebuergesch, *ech verstinn*, entschëllegt, wannechgelift.

4. The diphthongs have fixed spellings

ei, éi, äi, ou, au, ie, ue each stand for one sound. Two to watch: ei sounds like English *eye* (*eis* — us), not like German *ei*; and ie / ue glide into a short *uh* (*hien*, *Nuecht*). Hear all seven in the pronunciation guide.

5. d' — “the” with an apostrophe

As subject or object, the article *the* is den or de for masculine nouns, but for feminine, neuter and plural nouns it is a single d', written with an apostrophe and attached to the noun: *d'Kanner* (the children), *d'Saach* (the matter), *d'Rechnung* (the bill).

6. The n that comes and goes

A final -n is written only when the next word begins with a vowel or with n, d, t, z, h: *gudde Moien* but *gudden Owend*; *ech komme kuerz* but *ech kommen haut*. This is part of the official spelling — full rules and recordings in the n-rule.

7. Words from French keep their spelling

Many everyday words come from French and are written the French way, accents and all: *Rendez-vous, Ordonnance, Supermarché, Garçon, merci, pardon*. Verbs from French get the Luxembourgish ending -éieren: *probéieren, studéieren, telefonéieren* — see the present tense and the verb pages probéieren, studéieren, telefonéieren.

How to type ë, é and ä

• Phone: press and hold e or a and choose the letter.
• Mac: Option + u, then e → ë; Option + e, then e → é; Option + u, then a → ä.
• Windows: add the *United States-International* keyboard; then " followed by e → ë, ' followed by e → é, " followed by a → ä. In Luxembourg, most keyboards use the Swiss-French layout, which has keys for é, à and ä.
• When unsure of a spelling: look the word up in LOD — it gives the official form, the plural or the verb forms, and a recording.

Practise reading

Reading aloud is the fastest way to make the rules automatic: take the example sentences in our guides — greetings, questions, negation, the past tense — read each line aloud, then press play and compare. Writing is not tested in the Sproochentest, but correct spelling makes every word easier to look up and remember. If you want your writing checked, a native teacher can do it: on Edluxio you book 1-to-1 lessons with independent teachers, among them native Luxembourgish speakers — the first lesson is a trial, refunded in full if it isn't right for you.

Keep learning

• 32 greetings and everyday phrases
• Asking questions
• The present tense
• The past tense
• At the doctor and the pharmacy
• Shopping and eating out
• Sproochentest speaking (A2)
• Phrase pages: hello · thank you
• How to pronounce Luxembourgish
• The n-rule
• Personal pronouns
• Word order
• 100 everyday verbs
• Irregular verbs
• What A2 and B1 mean
• All verb tables · all phrase pages
• How to learn Luxembourgish online