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German Compound Words: Memorize 78 Flashcards from Handschuh to Wolkenkratzer

Memorize German compound words with 78 flashcards: gender from the last word, linking -s- and -n-, literal animals like Waschbär and Nilpferd, travel and tech terms.

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German doesn't invent new words so much as snap old ones together. A glove is a hand shoe (Handschuh), a raccoon a washing bear (Waschbär), a turtle a shield toad (Schildkröte). Once you can see the pieces, thousands of words become guessable. Deck LH8131 – German Compound Words (78 cards) trains exactly that, with the article and a word-by-word breakdown on every back.

Study this deck: German Compound Words

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Question

German compound nouns typically written

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Inside the deck

  • The rules: compounds are written as one word; the last element decides the gender; linking sounds (Fugenelemente); Bandwurmwörter ("tapeworm words"); hyphens for readability.
  • Literal animals: Fledermaus, Nilpferd, Faultier, Meerschweinchen, Stinktier, Tintenfisch, Seehund, Nacktschnecke, Schnabeltier, Stachelschwein
  • Home & everyday: Kühlschrank, Staubsauger, Feuerzeug, Krankenhaus, Geburtstag, Wolkenkratzer
  • Travel: Flughafen, Bahnhof, Bahnsteig, Bordkarte, Handgepäck, Passkontrolle, Führerschein, Tankstelle, Autobahn
  • Tech: Bildschirm, Passwort, Benutzername, Posteingang, Postausgang, Kopfhörer

Ten cards worth knowing

FrontBack
Gender of a compound nounthe last word's: das Haus + die Tür → die Haustür
skyscraperder Wolkenkratzer (clouds + scraper)
gloveder Handschuh (hand + shoe)
batdie Fledermaus (flutter + mouse)
hippopotamusdas Nilpferd (Nile + horse)
guinea pigdas Meerschweinchen (sea + pig + -chen)
workplaceder Arbeitsplatz (Arbeit + s + Platz)
sunshineder Sonnenschein (Sonne + n + Schein)
platformder Bahnsteig (train + path)
inboxder Posteingang (mail + entrance)

Tip 1 – Learn the head first, get the gender free

Because the gender follows the last element, file compounds by their head, not alphabetically. Group -zeug (das Flugzeug, das Feuerzeug, das Fahrzeug), -platz (der Arbeitsplatz, Parkplatz, Fensterplatz) and -bahn (die Eisenbahn, die Autobahn). Learn one article per head and every new compound is solved. That's also why getting der/die/das right on the head matters so much once you start declining them — see our German cases deck guide.

Tip 2 – Complete the linking-sound table

The deck shows -s- (after -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -ion, -tät: Sicherheitskontrolle), -n- (Straßenschild) and no link (Nachthimmel). Write the missing patterns as 4 extra cards:

  • -en-: Frauenarzt, Tintenfisch
  • -er-: Kinderzimmer
  • -es-: Tageslicht
  • dropped -e: Kirche → Kirchturm, Farbe → Farbfernsehgerät (the deck labels Kirchturm "no linking", but the -e actually disappears)

Cleaning notes

Around nine cards aren't compounds at all — Rechner, Ampel, Gepäck, Tastatur, Maus, Laptop, Smartphone, Touchscreen, plain Schwein. Keep them as useful vocabulary but tag them simple/loanword so you don't try to split them. Card 77's front lost its opening word; read it as "Can compound words be hyphenated?" (yes — e.g. Eisenbahn-Unterführung, for readability).

Hungry for more? Food is full of compounds (Apfelschorle, Bratwurst): German food and drink vocabulary.

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