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Nouns
26
Compound nouns
A group of compound nouns can be formed by simply putting two nouns
together, giving the compound noun the gender of the second noun.
Examples:
de post + het kantoor → het postkantoor post office
de telefoon + de cel → de telefooncel phone booth
de bank + de rekening → de bankrekening bank account
de tafel + het kleed → het tafelkleed tablecloth
While in English it is often unclear whether a compound word is written
as one word or two (and you have to check a dictionary), in Dutch it is
always written as one word.
A second group of compound words is connected with -s- (in Dutch we
say tussen-s, ‘between-s’). Examples:
het bedrijf + de arts → de bedrijfsarts company physician
de stad + de reiniging → de stadsreiniging city cleaning
de groep + het werk → het groepswerk group work
het leven + het lied → het levenslied song of life
Compound words are written with tussen-s when it can be heard in the
pronunciation. The consequence of this rather open rule is that there may
be individual or regional differences in the way people write compound
words. Two forms often exist next to each other, and they are both correct.
Examples are drugsbeleid vs. drugbeleid ‘drug policy’ or tijdsverschil
vs. tijdverschil ‘time difference’.
Another group of compound nouns is formed with the connecting
letters -e(n).
het boek + de kast → de boekenkast bookcase
de plant + de bak → de plantenbak planter
de zon + de schijn → de zonneschijn sunshine
de rijst + de pap → de rijstepap rice porridge
de spin + het web → het spinneweb spider web
The rule for the formation of compound words with -e or -en is as
follows: if the plural of the first noun ends in -en, the compound word is
written with -en. If the plural of the first word doesn’t exist (as in rijst),
isn’t used much (as in zon) or is different from -en, the compound word
is written with -e. Also, when in the first word the idea of a singular being
dominates (one spider per web, right?), the compound word is connected
with -e.