Compound Nouns

Level 2

Icelandic builds new nouns by joining words: kaffi (coffee) + hús (house) → kaffihús (café). The whole compound is written as one word.

How It Works

How compounds are built

  • kaffi (coffee) + hús (house, n) → kaffihús (café), neuter
  • sjón (sight) + varp (casting, n) → sjónvarp (television), neuter
  • bóka (of books) + safn (collection, n) → bókasafn (library), neuter
  • skóla (school) + taska (bag, f) → skólataska (school bag), feminine
  • bíl (car) + stjóri (one in charge, m) → bílstjóri (driver), masculine
  • morgun (morning) + matur (food, m) → morgunmatur (breakfast), masculine

The first part
Sometimes the first part is just a stem: kaffihús, bílstjóri. Often it is a genitive form: bóka means "of books", so bókasafn is a "collection of books". You do not have to build these yourself yet. Just recognize them. The linking forms are taught in Genitive Links in Compounds.

The last part does all the work

  • Case: Ég fer á bókasafnið; Hún gleymdi skólatöskunni.
  • Plural, including the a-to-ö change: safn → söfn, so bókasafn → bókasöfn; sjónvarp → sjónvörp.
  • Gender of adjectives: nýtt sjónvarp (n), ný skólataska (f), nýr bílstjóri (m).

Stress
A compound has its main stress on the first syllable of the whole word: KAFFihús, BÓKasafn. See Stress on the First Syllable.

Examples (6)

  1. Hittumst á kaffihúsinu klukkan þrjú.

    Let's meet at the café at three.

    Word by Word: Meet-each-other on coffee-house-the clock three.

    Only the last part takes the endings: kaffihúsi + nu → kaffihúsinu.

  2. Hvað er í sjónvarpinu í kvöld?

    What's on TV tonight?

    Word by Word: What is in television-the in evening?

    sjónvarp is neuter because varp is neuter.

  3. Ég fer á bókasafnið á morgun.

    I'm going to the library tomorrow.

    Word by Word: I go on library-the on morning.

    The article goes on the end of the whole compound.

  4. Hún gleymdi skólatöskunni sinni í strætó.

    She forgot her school bag on the bus.

    Word by Word: She forgot school-bag-the her-own in bus.

    taska is feminine, so the whole word is feminine: skólatöskunni.

  5. Það eru tvö bókasöfn í bænum.

    There are two libraries in town.

    Word by Word: It are two libraries in town-the.

    The plural change happens in the last part: safn → söfn.

  6. Bílstjórinn stoppaði við búðina.

    The driver stopped at the shop.

    Word by Word: Car-driver-the stopped by shop-the.

    bílstjóri declines like tími because its last part is stjóri.

Common Mistakes

  • Taking the gender from the first part.

    Ég keypti nýjan skólatösku.
    Ég keypti nýja skólatösku.

    skóli is masculine, but the last part, taska, is feminine. So the adjective must be feminine: nýja.

  • Forgetting the plural change in the last part.

    Það eru tvö bókasafn í bænum.
    Það eru tvö bókasöfn í bænum.

    The last part takes the plural just as it would on its own: safn → söfn, so bókasafn → bókasöfn.

  • Writing a compound as two words.

    Hittumst á kaffi húsinu.
    Hittumst á kaffihúsinu.

    Compound nouns are written as one word, and only the end of the whole word takes the endings.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Compound NounsLevel 2

Learn This First

Compound nouns build on gender and stress.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.