Learning Luxembourgish ? Starting with the appropriate greeting will help you make a good impression and get the conversation rolling with native Luxembourgish speakers.
In this lesson, you’ll learn different ways to say hello in Luxembourgish. Some are more formal than others and some are universally used:
Moien – Hello
If you’ve been in Luxembourg even for just a few days, you will likely have heard people greet each other with the word
Moien literally means morning but on its own, it is used throughout the day until 17h00/18h00 as Hello. If you want to be more formal, use
Bonjour – Hello (formal)
When we add the word gudde(n) to Moien then it takes on its true meaning and we have the expression good morning. gudde(n)* meaning good.
Gudde Moien –good morning / hello
Just like Moien it can be used throughout the day until 17h00/18h00 to simply say hello
When you want to greet someone between noon and 17.00/18h00 you can also use
Gudde Mëtteg – good midday / afternoon
To greet colleagues in passing during the lunch break, you will drop gudde* and just say Mëtteg.
*gudden is the declined version of the adjective gutt. And it is subject to the n-rule.
To greet someone after 18h00 you will use
Gudden Owend – good evening
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Let’s have a look at ways to say hello in an informal situation – with friends, peers, or your family.
Friends and young people often greet each other more informally with:
Salut – Hi
When saying hello to a person you know very well, native speakers don’t always say Moien. They eye up one another silently in a salutation-standoff, before saying
An? – Hello
Literally this means And? but is commonly used as a casual way of saying hello.To add an extra degree of affection to your An?, you can append du, for a sweet-sounding
An du?
Besides An?, there are other ways to climb down the ladder of formality to meet your peers. You will native speakers dropping the e of Moien and hear
Moin!
and you will also often hear Luxemburger use the German word
Hallo – Hello
Greetings aren’t just words. When you say hello, depending on where you are, you may hug or kiss the cheeks of the person you’re greeting. In Luxembourg, we used (until March 2020) to shake hands in formal situation. Make sure you make eye contact, it may be considered rude otherwise.
When you are on familiar terms with someone, you can use their first name. But in a formal situation, you can address someone by their last name, using Här (mister) or Madamm (miss/mrs).
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