Compound nouns

Right now: two rules, the whole system

ShortcutThe last part is the word itself. It gives the meaning and it gives the article. The parts in front only describe it.

English does the same job, just with a space in between (or a hyphen): “hand bag”, “hospital room”. German deletes the space and writes one word. The structure does not change, only the spelling.

• die Hand + der Schuh hand + shoe = DER HANDSCHUH · GLOVE
• die Hand + die Tasche hand + bag = DIE HANDTASCHE · HANDBAG
• die Hand + das Tuch hand + cloth = DAS HANDTUCH · TOWEL

All three start with the same head: Hand, feminine. But their articles differ — because the last part decides the article, not the first: der Schuh · die Tasche · das Tuch.

This rule works without exceptions. For every long word you meet after A2 you can guess the article — all you have to do is spot the last part.

The meaning is read from the end, too

Put the same two words in the opposite order and you get something completely different. Once you have seen this, the rule sinks in:

So the method for reading a long word is always the same: start at the end and read backwards.

• Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung speed limit BEGRENZUNG = LIMIT → GESCHWINDIGKEIT = SPEED
• Krankenhausaufenthalt hospital stay AUFENTHALT = STAY → KRANKENHAUS = HOSPITAL
• Arbeitserlaubnis work permit ERLAUBNIS = PERMIT → ARBEIT = WORK

The s, n and e in between — the “Fugenlaut”

In some compounds there is an extra letter between the parts: Arbeitszimmer, Krankenhaus, Hundefutter. It has no meaning — it just makes the word easier to say.

Not only nouns: verbs and adjectives join in, too

The first part of a compound does not have to be a noun. German also uses verb stems, adjectives, prepositions:

Building words with endings — where your vocabulary doubles

Next to compounds there is a second mechanism: suffixes and prefixes. Once you know one word, you get four or five related words for free.

The best way to show how this system works is to see what grows out of a single root — Arbeit (work):

• arbeiten — to work
• der Arbeiter · die Arbeiterin — worker
• der Arbeitgeber — employer (work + giver)
• der Arbeitnehmer — employee (work + taker)
• arbeitslos — unemployed
• die Arbeitslosigkeit — unemployment
• der Arbeitsplatz — workplace
• die Arbeitserlaubnis — work permit

Eight words, one root. You did not memorise them one by one — you knew one and built seven. This is how your vocabulary grows after A2.

What nobody tells you: cutting in the wrong place

The most common mistake when splitting a long word is cutting in the wrong place. A hint: German words end in familiar chunks like -ung · -heit · -keit · -schaft · -platz · -zimmer · -haus. Find that first, then cut backwards.

The second mistake: assuming every long word is a compound. Versicherung · Entschuldigung · Verabredung are not compounds, they are derived words — prefix + root + suffix. In those you look for the suffix, not the last part: if you see -ung, the article is die.

In practice there is only one question: can the final part stand alone as a word? Platz yes → compound. -ung no → derived. Either way the article is read from the end, so the result does not change.

What to do this week

This is the last topic of A2, and it has an interesting side: you practise it on the street.

• Look at a German supermarket shelf (or a photo of one). Split every long word you see, starting from the end.
• Guess the article first, then check. If you know the last part, you are supposed to know it.
• Pick a word you know (Haus · Arbeit · Fahr-) and write five words derived from it.
• When you learn a new long word, write it in your notebook together with its parts: die Aufenthaltserlaubnis = Aufenthalt + Erlaubnis. Write it as one piece and you will forget it; write it in parts and you learn the system.

A2 is done. From here on it is B1: prepositions that stick to verbs, indirect speech and the Konjunktiv. But first go through these eleven topics once more on the A2 path — they are all lined up in order.