© RTL / Julia Maaluf
Simply by living our lives, we naturally accumulate more or less interesting experiences and stories. In this lesson, we cover some ways to share them.
Hello and welcome back to yet another Luxembourgish Lesson! If we were in an actual classroom, this would probably be the perfect time to pull out the classic language tutor question: An, wéi war är Woch esou? Zielt mer mol dovunner op lëtzebuergesch! ("Well, how has your week been? Why don't you tell me about it in Luxembourgish!").
However, since these lessons don't take place in a physical classroom but right here on our lovely RTL Today website, we will have to content ourselves with learning about how to talk about the past – both recent and distant.
Before we get started, here is your weekly reminder that this lesson comes with a separate Language Basics article. It's an important one this time, covering the basics of the past tenses in Luxembourgish – a grammar element which will be highly useful in today's lesson!
In fact, while we usually say that the grammar lessons are meant for those of you that want to dive a little bit deeper into the inner workings of the Luxembourgish language, we highly suggest that you read both articles for this lesson.
How to say when something happened
The first thing we usually do when sharing an anecdote is telling the other person when said anecdote happened. How do we do that in Luxembourgish? So glad you asked!
This morning -> Haut de Moien
Yesterday -> Gëschter
Last weekend -> leschte Weekend
Last *weekday* -> Leschte(n) *Wochendag*
Pro tip: Forgot the Luxembourgish names of the weekdays? We covered them in Lesson 4, right here!
Last week -> lescht Woch
Last month -> leschte Mount
Last year -> lescht Joer
Two / three / four days / months / years ago -> Viru(n) zwee / dräi / véier Deeg / Méint / Joer
During my last holiday… -> Wärend menger leschter Vakanz…
When I was little… -> Wéi ech kleng war…
Back then -> deemools
When I was still living in… -> Wéi ech nach zu … gewunnt hunn…
When I was still working for… -> Wéi ech nach fir … geschafft hunn…
When I was still together with… -> Wéi ech nach mam … zesumme war…
Telling your anecdote
Now let's have a look at several phrases that you can use to seamlessly transition into sharing your fascinating story:
I'll never forget the time I was… -> Ech wäert ni vergiessen, wéi ech…
Speaking of… that reminds me of the time I… -> Apropos… dat erënnert mech dorunner wéi ech…
This was around the time of… -> Dat war zu der Zäit wéi…
You should have heard / seen… -> Du häss misse(n) héieren / gesinn…
Some things you might want to say when listening to an anecdote
Of course, people might also share their own anecdotes with you! In that case, you might want to react to the story. Here are some Luxembourgish words and phrases to help you do just that:
Seriously? -> Serieux?
I'm not surprised (to hear that) -> Ech sinn net iwwerrascht (dat ze héieren)
Oh my God! -> O mäi Gott!
No way! -> Nee!
Remember that if you're looking for specific words, the Luxembourgish Online Dictionary (LOD) is your friend! The LOD also features voice samples to help you with your pronunciation.
