Compound Words
What is it?
Two words that are merged together to make one is called a compound word, like sprog and lærer makes sproglærer (language teacher).
The Rules
Mostly, compound words in Danish are written into one word instead of two.
But when?
If stress is put on the first part of the word the two words are made into one
Sometimes an 's' or an 'e' is added to join the words together. On very rare occasions the joining letter is an 'n'.
Examples
Da | En | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
without a joining letter | |||||
en lillefinger | little finger | n -en | |||
en håndflade | palm | n -en | |||
et rugbrød | rye bread | n -et | |||
en sproglærer | language teacher | n -en | |||
en havemøbler | garden furniture | n -en | |||
's' | |||||
smagssans | sense of taste | n -en | |||
en fødselsdag | birthday | n -en | |||
en månedsløn | monthly pay | n -en | |||
'e' | |||||
et juletræ | christmas tree | n -et | |||
et strygejern | iron | n -et | |||
en hundehvalp | puppy | n -en | |||
en barnevogn | pram | n -en | |||
'n' | |||||
et øjenbryn | eye brow | n -et | |||
en øjenvipper | eye lashes | n -en | |||