Luxembourgish looks close enough to German that German words slip out under pressure. In the Sproochentest that quietly costs you, because the examiners are grading your Luxembourgish, and a German word is a German word. The good news: the swaps are easy to learn.
Here are the most common ones.
Everyday nouns
| Instead of (German) | Say (Luxembourgish) | English |
|---|---|---|
| Kartoffeln | Gromperen | potatoes |
| Bahnhof | Gare | train station |
| Tisch | Dësch | table |
| Stuhl | Stull | chair |
| Apfel | Apel | apple |
| Markt | Maart | market |
| Schule | Schoul | school |
| Garten | Gaart | garden |
Everyday verbs
| German | Luxembourgish | English |
|---|---|---|
| kaufen | kafen | to buy |
| arbeiten | schaffen | to work |
| sprechen | schwätzen | to speak |
| sehen | kucken / gesinn | to see / look |
Small words that give you away
| German | Luxembourgish | English |
|---|---|---|
| schön | schéin | beautiful |
| für | fir | for |
| heute | haut | today |
| jetzt | elo | now |
| immer | ëmmer | always |
| und | an | and |
| weil | well | because |
| nicht | net | not |
A spelling note: Luxembourgish does not use oe, ae, or ue as German-style umlaut substitutes. Use é, ä, ö where they belong, and the native form where one exists (schéin, not schön).
You do not need to purge every German-rooted word; plenty are shared (Haus, Mann, gutt). The point is to catch the handful that have a clearly Luxembourgish form and use that instead. Drill them into your model answers so the right word comes out automatically.