Adjektive: prädikativ und attributiv

English adjectives do not change: a big man, a big house, big people. In Luxembourgish an adjective that stands after the verb has no ending, but one that stands in front of a noun takes an ending that depends on the noun's gender.

After the verb: no ending

Den Hond ass grouss. - The dog is big. D'Kaz ass kleng. - The cat is small. D'Haus ass al. - The house is old.

Before the noun: an ending

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
the	de groussen Hond	déi grouss Kaz	dat grousst Haus	déi grouss Leit
a	e grousse Mann	eng grouss Kaz	e grousst Haus	grouss Leit

The short version:

• masculine singular adds -en, which the n-rule turns into -e before most consonants: e groussen Hond, e grousse Mann;
• neuter singular adds -t: e klengt Kand - a small child;
• feminine and plural usually add nothing: eng nei Wunneng - a new flat.

d' turns into déi and dat

This catches everyone out. The short article d' cannot stand in front of an adjective. With an adjective, the feminine and plural "the" becomes déi and the neuter becomes dat: d'Kaz but déi schwaarz Kaz - the black cat; d'Haus but dat neit Haus - the new house. Writing *d'grouss Kaz is a common learner error.

English habits to drop

• Leaving the adjective bare before a masculine or neuter noun: *e grouss Haus should be e grousst Haus.
• Adding an ending after the verb: *D'Haus ass grousst is wrong; after ass it stays grouss.

One adjective, three genders, at the café: e waarme Kaffi - a hot coffee, eng waarm Zopp - a hot soup, e waarmt Iessen - a hot meal.