In this lesson I will talk about the Luxembourgish verbs treffen and kenne léieren.
Let’s start with the verb:
Kenne léieren:
Use kenne léieren – learning to know – when encountering or meeting a person for the first time.
Beispiller (examples):
- Schéin dech kennen ze léieren. – Nice to meet you (informal).
- Mir hunn eis an engem Sproochecours kenne geléiert. – We met at a language course.
- Wou hutt dir iech kenne geléiert? – Where did you guys meet?
The perfect tense of kenne léieren is kenne geléiert.
Kenne léieren is a separable verb: used in a simple sentence and in the present tense you say:
- Op enger Party léieren ech oft Leit kennen.
Treffen
Treffen – to meet, to bump into – is either used when you encounter someone by chance or get together for socializing.
The perfect tense of treffen is getraff.
A synonym is begéinen.
Beispiller (examples):
- Ech hunn deng Schwëster haut an der Stad getraff. – I met (by chance) your sister today in town.
- Rot emol, wien ech gëschter am Kino getraff hunn! – Guess who I met yesterday at the cinema!
If you use the verb treffen, you ALWAYS have to have an object. You cannot just meet without an object or person. This is different to English:
We meet at 9.00 – is totally fine in Englsih.
BUT
Mir treffen um 9.00 – is not correct in Luxembourgish. We have to say what we meet someone or ourselves.
☞ Mir treffen eis um 9.00 Auer – is correct
Sech Treffen (mat)
Use sech treffen (mat) – to meet with – for spending time with someone for discussion (business, politics, etc.) or to meet someone on purpose or
Beispiller (examples):
- Wou trefft dir iech? – Where are you meeting up?
- Mir treffen eis den Owend um Glacis. – We meet on the Glacis this evening.
- Si treffe sech mat hinne virum Kino. – They’ll meet (with) them in front of the cinema.
As you can see, eis / iech are NOT translated. It is just there in Luxembourgish because sech treffen is a reflexive verb and that the grammar wants it .… also in questions:
- Wéini kënne mir eis treffen? – When can we meet?
Summary:
kenne léieren – meeting for the very first time (make the acqaintance of)
treffen – meeting by chance, you just run into someone;
sech treffen (mat) – meeting on purpose, we have agreed on that before.
Let’s practice:
Translate the following sentences into Luxembourgish:
- I meet (with) my friend at the cantin.
- We meet them in front of the bar.
- Nice to meet you (formal).
Check the solution by downloading the PDF and practice with MORE sentences to translate !
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I hope you liked it and found it useful. And …. why not sharing this lesson with your friends:-)
