Compound Nouns in German

Compound nouns (Nomenkomposita) in German are very common. Compound nouns are formed from at least two individual words and can consist of even more. Today's article will introduce the rules for forming compound nouns in German.

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- The gender of the last noun will be the gender of the compound noun. Compound nouns in German are formed by:

1. Nomen + Nomen

• der Tische + die Decke = die Tischdecke

• das Haus + die Tür + der Schlüssel = der Haustürschlüssel

1. Verb + Nomen

• warten + das Zimmer = das Wartezimmer

• laufen + die Schuhe = die Laufschuhe

1. Adjektiv + Nomen

• kühl + der Schrank = der Kühlschrank

1. Adverb + Nomen

• morgen + die Dämmerung = die Morgendämmerung

1. Präposition + Nomen

• vor + der Ort = der Vorort

• neben + der Satz = der Nebensatz

• über + der Fall = der Überfall

- In many cases, when two nouns are joined together, they must be combined with a linking element such as: -e, -e(s), -(e)n, -er. There are no strict rules for this, so we simply have to memorize them.

1. -e is usually added in the case of Verb (only the verb stem is used) + Nomen, especially when the verb stem ends in -b, -d, -g, -t.

• baden + das Zimmer = das Badezimmer

• !!!! Nouns whose plural ends in -e: der Hund + die Hütte = die Hundehütte

1. -(e)s is usually added after nouns ending in -tum, -ling, -ion, -tät, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -sicht, und -ung.

• die Gesundheit + der Minister = der Gesundheitsminister

• die Geburt + der Tag + das Geschenk = das Geburtstagsgeschenk

1. -(e)n is usually used as a linking element when the first noun is a noun whose plural form ends in -en.- der Student + der Ausweis = der Studentenausweis

• die Straße + die Bahn = die Straßenbahn

1. -er is commonly used as a linking element when the first noun is masculine or neuter and has a plural form ending in -er.

• das Kind + das Zimmer = das Kinderzimmer

• der Mann + der Gesang + der Verein = der Männergesangverein