Adverbs are words that can help make your sentences more interesting, because they add more detail to the situation.
Let’s illustrate this with 1 example:
Ech hu keng Zäit. – I have no time.
This is quite a poor sentence. But by adding an adverb such as leider your sentence is more complete and sounds different:
☛ Ech hu leider keng Zäit. – I have no time, unfortunately.
Where should you put an adverb in the sentence?
Adverbs are typically located:
- Immediately after the main verb
☛ Ech hu leider keng Zäit.
- At the beginning of your sentence:
☛ Leider hunn ech keng Zäit.
15 Adverbs to Make Phrases More Interesting
Here are 15 interesting adverbs, along with example sentences for each.
leider – unfortunately
Beispiller (examples):
- Mir hate leider keng Chance mam Wieder. – We weren’t lucky with the weather, unfortunately.
- Leider hunn ech muer keng Zäit fir Tennis ze spillen. – Unfortunately I’ll have no time to play tennis tomorrow.
onbedéngt – absolutely
Beispiller (examples):
- Ech muss onbedéngt haut an d’Apdikt goen. – I must absolutely go to the pharmacy today.
- Wëlls du onbedéngt nees Pizza iessen? – Do you absolutely want to eat again pizza?
bestëmmt – certainly / definitely
is another way to say sécher
Beispiller (examples):
- Hien ass bestëmmt geschwënn hei. – He’ll be here shortly, for sure.
- Du hues bestëmmt Recht .… – You’re certainly right …
hoffentlech – hopefully
Beispiller (examples):
- Hoffentlech bleift d’Wieder de Weekend esou gutt. – Hopefully the weather will stay so good at the weekend.
- Hoffentlech huet den Zuch keng Verspéidung. – Hopfully the train is not delayed.
zoufälleg – by any chance
is the short form to say zoufällegerweis
Beispiller (examples):
- Hues du zoufälleg Zäit an der Mëttespaus? – Do you have by any chance time during the lunch break?
- Ech hunn eisen Noper zoufälleg am Kino getraff. – I bumped into our neighbour at the cinema.
natierlech – of course
Beispiller (examples):
- Ech ginn natierlech mat dir bei den Dokter. – Of course, I’ll come with you to the docter.
- Natierlech kann ech der hëllefen. – Of course I can help you.
ausserdeem – besides, in addition
Beispiller (examples):
- Ech hunn elo keng Zäit fir dir ze hëllefen an ausserdeem sinn ech midd. – I don’t have time now and in addition I am tired.
- Ausserdeem ass dësen Hotel vill ze deier.- In addition this hotel is far too expensive.
eventuell – may be / possibly
is another way to say vläicht
Beispiller (examples):
- Hues du eventuell Loscht den Owend an de Kino ze goen? – Would you possibly feel like going to the cinema tonight?
- Meng Eltere kommen eventuell muer op Besuch. – May be my parents will come to visit us tomorrow.
zemools – especially
is another way to say besonnesch
Beispiller (examples):
- D’Appartement gefält mir gutt, zemools d’Kichen. – I like the appartment especially the kitchen.
- Mäi Mann kacht gär, zemools indesch Platen. – My husband likes to cook, above all indian dishes.
op eemol – suddenly
Beispiller (examples):
- Op eemol hunn ech Angscht kritt. – Suddenly I got scared.
- Op eemol huet den Hond ugefaange mat billen. – Suddenly the dog began to bark.
stänneg – constantly
is another way to say dauernd
Beispiller (examples):
- Dem Noper säin Hond billt stänneg. – The neighour’s dog is constantly barking
- Stänneg ass hei vill Kaméidi. – There’s constantly much noise here.
fräiwëlleg – voluntarily
Beispiller (examples):
- Ech verzichte fräiwëlleg op mäin Dessert – I’ll voluntarily do without my dessert.
- Wie geet fräiwëlleg mat mir zu Fouss an de Restaurant?- Who accompanies me voluntarily to the restaurant by walking?
an engems – at the same time / as well as
Beispiller (examples):
- Kaf an engems eng Baguette fir muer de Moien. – Buy at the same time a baguette for tomorrow morning.
- Mäi Student léiert Lëtzebuergesch an an engems Däitsch. – My student studies Luxembourgish as well as German.
mateneen – together, at a time
synonymes are zesummen, gläichzäiteg
Beispiller (examples):
- Si schwätzen net méi mateneen. – They don’t speak any more together.
- D’Kanner sinn all mateneen an de Bus geklomm. – The children got all at the same time onto the bus.
fir d’éischt – first (first of all)
Beispiller (examples):
- Ech wëll hinne fir d’éischt Moie soen. – I want to greet them first.
- Fir d’éischt musse mer bei de Bäcker goen. – First of all we’ll have to go to the baker.
Exercise / Übung:
Translate the following sentences into Luxembourgish:
- They all laughed at the same time.
- Do you have to ask me something constantly?
- May be my parents will by pop in tomorrow.
Check the solution by downloading the PDF and practice with MORE sentences to translate !
I hope you liked it and found it useful. And …. why not sharing this lesson with your friends:-)
