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das Esszimmer

die Waschmaschine

das Einkaufszentrum

die Arbeitslosigkeit

dining room

washing machine

the shopping center

unemployment

ausmachen

ansprechen

aufschreiben

nachmachen

to turn off

to address

to write down

to imitate

die Unterwelt

das Übergewicht

der Ausflug

the underworld

overweight

trip

wohlverdient

tieftraurig

hochaktuell

schwerkriminell

well deserved

deeply sad

highly relevant

serious criminal

himmelblau

federleicht

bärenstark

schneeweiß

sky blue

feather light

strong as a bear

snow white

die Großstadt

die Großeltern

die Hauptstadt

die Hauptfigur

big city

grandparents

capital city

main character

der Orangensaft

der Apfelsaft

die Jahreszeit

die Abendschule

the Orange juice

the Apple juice

the season

the evening school

VerbOStem

Noun

Preposition

Verb

Preposition

Noun

Adjective

Noun

Adjective

Noun

das Lieblingsessen= favourite food

die Lieblingsfächer = favourite subjects

der Lieblingssport = favourite sport

⭐ *We add -s to feminine nouns ending in - heit, -keit, -ung

We have also compounds with lieblings + noun (favourite _____)

die Gesundheitswerbung health promotion

der Bilderrahmen photography frame

das Friedensabkommen peace agreement

der Küchenschrank kitchen cupboard

das Schweinefleisch pork

-e

-n

-ens

-er

-s/-es*

.....das Schlafzimmer bedroom

.....ausmachen turnoff

.....der Vorname first name

.....der dunkelrot dark red

.....der pechschwarz pitch black

.....die Großmutter grandmother

.....der Kindergarten kindergarten

Noun +	Noun
Adjective +	Noun
Noun +	Adjective
Adjective +	Adjective
Preposition +	Noun
Preposition +	Verb
Verb stem +	Noun

Mr. Puddle: Ja, ich weiß!

Mr. Meowrr: Ich bin nicht arbeitsscheu!

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⭐ We sometimes insert an additional letter between noun - noun compounds but we don’t have precise rules so you should look them up in dictionaries. Yet, if you have no time for that, we strongly recommand the "learn them by training" and experiencing method:

*If this table doesn't display right, please turn your phone horrizontaly !

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*If this table doesn't display right, please turn your phone horrizontaly !

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Cats are lovely and may prove to be a good company for you while learning or struggling with German.

Here's the perfect place for animal lovers and German learners!

2020, L2D

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Take your chance and try to guess what these sentences mean ! Afterwards, follow the structure to get a better understanding !

Mrs. Purrplexed wants to play!

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Mr. Puddle: Another one is for lazy people “arbeitsscheu" which refers to somebody afraid of hard work!

Mr. Puddle: Indeed. And it can be fun to learn, too! Germans have a lot of compounds. Here is a funny one “das Backpfeifengesicht” literally translated as “a face that makes you want to slap it” or “der Chef-Witz-Lacher” who is a man who laughs at the boss's jokes

Mr. Meowrr: I know one too! “der Warmduscher” is a person that likes to get warm showers… I mean… me!

Mr. Meowrr: I mean, considering other lessons from this level, it is pretty easy.

I. Theory and definitions: Compound words in German

Compound words in German

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✔️ Follow the sentences and see how the structures work. You may wanna play with Mrs. Purrplexed too while trying to translate some of them!

V. Let's practice! - Compound words

IV. Purrrfection explained! - Compound words

✔️ Learn the different patterns for compounds

✔️ Don’t forget that sometimes there interposed letters between the words that form the compounds

✔️ The last words is the one giving the meaning and carrying the article and the first word(s) is the describer

III. Tips & Tricks : How to learn them easily? - Compound words

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II. Practical examples - Compound words

✔️ Arguably, the longest German word (63 letters) is:

das Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz

Translation: "law for the delegation of monitoring beef labelling"

This is a compound noun, a category of words which is very typical for Germans. We also have compound words in English “battlefield, boyfriend, seafood, granddaughter”. Fortunately “das Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz” has been no longer in use since 2013 (thank God!). It is quite common for German language to have compound words. Actually, you can create compounds by yourself once you get used to the rules and it would be perfectly fine and right!

The role of the compounds is to describe or give more details about something

The last word (das Gesetz - law) carries the main meaning ( and it also keeps the article) while the first word(s) describes it

There are some patterns for you to follow and recognize the compound words:

Fill in the Blank Quiz

▶ See the translation of the text

My grandfather is a nice and funny person. He has snow white hair and beard. He looks like Santa Klaus. Last summer my grandpa fell and broke his leg in the living room . Once he was strong as bear but now he was old and sick. He recovered quickly but sometimes his leg is hurting. I often visit him on weekends. He is a man who drinks wine-spritzers and beer a lot. His are: fishing and taking short walks through parks. I love my grandpa!