Around town An der Stad
Ask the way, understand directions and use public transport, which is free across the whole country.
By the end of this lesson you can
- Name the main places in town and the ways to travel.
- Ask the way, and give or understand directions: left, right, straight ahead.
- Use the imperative and the dative after prepositions such as mat, bei and vun.
21 words and phrases
- d'Stad
- the city "An der Stad" usually means Luxembourg City.
- d'Gare
- the station
- de Bus
- the bus
- den Zuch
- the train
- den Tram
- the tram
- d'Haltestell
- the stop
- d'Strooss
- the street
- d'Plaz
- the square
- d'Bréck
- the bridge
- d'Kierch
- the church
- d'Post
- the post office
- d'Bank
- the bank
- d'Apdikt
- the pharmacy
- lénks
- left
- riets
- right
- riichtaus
- straight ahead
- wäit
- far
- no bei
- near
- Wou ass …?
- Where is …?
- Wéi kommen ech op d'Gare?
- How do I get to the station?
- Den ëffentlechen Transport ass gratis.
- Public transport is free. True since 2020, for everyone.
Grammar
Giving directions politely
The formal imperative is the "dir" form of the verb: Gitt riichtaus (go straight), Huelt de Bus (take the bus), Fuert mam Zuch (go by train). "mam" is short for "mat dem" (with the).
"op" is used for going to stations and squares (op d'Gare, op d'Plaz), "an" for going into town (an d'Stad), "bei" for going to a building (bei d'Kierch).
- Gitt riichtaus an dann lénks. — Go straight and then left.
- Et ass net wäit, no bei der Post. — It's not far, near the post office.
With, at, from: the dative
After mat (with), bei (at, next to), no (after), vun (from, of), zu (to) and aus (out of), and after an and op when they say where something is, the article changes: dem for masculine and neuter nouns, der for feminine ones, den for plurals.
A preposition and dem often merge: mat dem becomes mam, vun dem becomes vum, zu dem becomes zum, bei dem becomes beim, an dem becomes am. Before a feminine noun, zu der becomes zur.
- Ech kommen mam Bus. — I come by bus.
- Si kënnt mam Zuch. — She comes by train.
- D'Gare ass bei der Kierch. — The station is next to the church.
- Ech wunnen an der Stad. — I live in the city.
Telling someone what to do: the imperative
To tell one person what to do, use the verb stem: Komm! Kuck! Géi!. To tell several people, add -t: Kommt! Kuckt!. Gitt! is the form of goen for several people.
The forms come straight from the verb's table on the verbs page; a few verbs change their vowel (goen: géi, gitt).
- Komm heem! — Come home!
- Kuck, de Bus! — Look, the bus!
- Géi riichtaus an dann lénks! — Go straight ahead and then left!
- Kuckt, d'Gare! — Look, the station!
Practice
14 exercises: multiple choice, typing, matching pairs and word order.