Compound words in German

Komposita

Compound words or Komposita is nothing but a combination of different words to form a new long word.

They are composed of either

1. noun + noun

der Tisch + die Decke = die Tischdecke

der Müll + der Eimer = der Mülleimer

2. adjective + noun

alt + das Papier = das Altpapier

groß + die Eltern = die Großeltern

3. verb + noun

waschen + die Maschine = die Waschmaschine

warten+ das Zimmer = das Wartzimmer

4. noun + adjective

die Luft + leer = luftleer

das Fett + los = fettlos

5. preposition + noun

vor + der Ort = der Vorort

6. preposition + verb

runter + springen = runterspringen

über + gehen = übergehen

7. adjective + adjective

hell + blau = hellblau

dunkel + grün = dunkelgrün

Compound word formation rules:

1. When combining words if the words have different article we always use the article of the last word as in case of die Tischdecke.

2. Its always the last word that determines the word type. Eg: über (preposition) + gehen (verb) = übergehen (verb)

3. Only last noun is declined. Eg: das Bügelbrett -> die Bügelbretter.

4. Numbers are always written together. Eg: Zweihundretzweiundzwanzig (222)

5. After 1998 Rechtschreibung verb + verb compound words are not written together. Eg: kennen lernen