Sometimes you need to wish someone good luck but what else can you say than the traditional Alles Guddes which I am pretty sure you have heard so many times.
There are formal ways of wishing good luck and also casual ways. Alles Guddes can be used in formal and casual situations.
- Alles Guddes fir däi Gebuertsdag. – Best wishes / Good luck for your (inf) birthday.
- Ech wënschen Iech Alles Guddes am neie Joer. – I wish you (form) a happy new year.
And the verb we often use is wënschen to wish and I wish you is ech wënschen dir (inf) & ech wënschen Iech / iech (form / pl)
The formal ways to say Good Luck
These forms are best used for professional situations, business situations, situations where you don’t know someone well, or when someone is going through a really difficult time.
Vill Gléck – best of luck
Instead of saying Alles Guddes you can use Vill Gléck to wish good luck for the New Year, or a new job:
- Ech wënschen Iech vill Gléck am Neie Joer.
- Vill Gléck fir d’Zukunft. – Good luck for the future.
- Vill Gléck op der neier Aarbecht. – Good luck at your new job.
Vill Erfolleg – be lucky / successful
- Mir wënschen dir vill Erfolleg am neien Job. – We wish you a lot of success at your new job
- Ech wënschen Iech weiderhin vill Erfolleg. – Be lucky (continue to be lucky)
- Vill Erfolleg beim Virstellungsgespréich. – A lot of success with your job interview.
dat Allerbescht – the very best / all the best
- Ech wënschen Iech an Ärer Famill dat Allerbescht fir 2021. – I wish you (form) and your family all the best for 2021
- Ech wënschen dir dat Allerbescht fir d’Zukunft. –I wish you all the best for the future
Eng gutt Rees – have a nice trip
it can be used in formal situations with people we don’t have no nearer relations to, e.g. if you check out from a hotel or to a stranger. It’s also a universal phrase, anyhow if the person uses a car, a train or an airplane.
Ech wënschen Iech eng gutt Rees. – I wish you (form) a nice trip.
But we use it also with a person we know well and he/she is leaving by car, we might simply say: eng gutt Rees.
If a good friend or family members are driving back home (after a party or a stay) we also say
Kommt gutt un or Kommt gutt heem
This means Arrive at your destination without any problems or arrive home without any problems. This is also often used in informal situations, but then you would say: Komm gutt un / Komm gutt heem
The casual ways to say Good Luck
Daumen halen – fingers crossed
literally this is keep the thumbs but it is our way to wish someone good luck for an exam, a competition or for a new job for example. And while saying this we close the 4 fingers of both hands around the thumb.
- Ech halen dir d’Daumen fir däin Test. – Fingers crossed for your exam.
- Mir halen iech d’Daumen fir de Match. – Fingers crossed for the match / I’m rooting for you (pl) to win the match
Du méchs / packs dat schonn – you can do it
This is a great expression to use especially when you see that someone is not feeling very confident about something.
Let’s imagine that a friend tells you that he/she has a job interview and is very nervous, so you could say:
- Jo, ech weess, du bass nervös, mee du méchs dat schonn. – I know, you are nervous, but you can do it.
- Ech si mir sécher, du packs dat schonn. – I’m pretty sure you can do it.
Pass op dech op – take care
In this expression we have the separable verb oppassen which means to watch out, to pay attention or to look after a person but literally this means take care of yourself
We use Pass op dech op or Pass gutt op dech op to wish good luck to someone who we care about – a good friend or our child – and who is leaving us for example for a long stay abroad or for his studies.
You could also say Maach et gutt.
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I hope you liked it and found it useful. And …. why not sharing this lesson with your friends:-)
