Compound words (Zusammensetzung)

Compound words are formed by joining two or more self-standing words into a single one. Different parts of speech can be used.

Parts of speech	Compound word
Noun + Noun	Gartenhaus
Verb + Noun	Reithalle
Adjective + Noun	Hochhaus
Prepostion + Noun	Aufstand
Verb + Adjective	treffsicher
Noun + Adjective	steinreich
Preposition + Adjective	überdeutlich
Adjective + Verb	hellsehen
Noun + Verb	teilnehmen
Preposition + Verb	unterschlagen

As you can see from the table nouns are very common in these combinations.

Compound words from verbs + other words
If the verb is in the first place in a compound word, the -en / -n ending of the infinitive is omitted. Only the stem of the verb is used:
treffen + sicher -> treffsicher
gehen + Weg -> Gehweg

Linking elements

Sometimes, words are joint together using a linking element between them. Their role is the make the pronunciation easier. However, there isn't a formal rule establishes when they are used.
One particular situation in which linking elements are used is when the first word of the compound is a noun. Most often 's' is used, however, you can also encounter 'e', 'es', 'en', 'ens', 'n', 'er' etc.
Examples:
Arbeitszimmer, gebrachsfertig, Zahlungsziel, Schmerzensgeld

Primary words, determiners

When compounding words, we differentiate between the determiner and the primary word:
Wasser (determiner) + Glas (primary word) -> Wasserglas
The basic word always determines the part of speech of the compound, while the determiner gives more specific information about the word.

The primary word

The primary word is always the last component of a compound (the rightmost part) and it determines all the grammatical features of the word, including the part of speech. When the primary word is a noun, its gender is also the gender of the compound.

Determiner(s) + primary word	Compound word (Part of speech)
reiten + Halle (Verb stem + noun)	Reitenhalle (Noun)
auf + Stand (preposition + noun)	Aufstand (Noun)
Teil + nehmen (noun + verb)	teilnehmen (verb)

The determiner can describe:

• a characteristic : Gehweg (a path on which people walk)
• a comparison: taghell (lit as much as a day)
• a purpose, characteristic : Schreibtisch (a table on which people write)
• a reason : Gasexplosion

Keep in mind that compounds can be formed with more than one determiner, and they can also accept prefixes and suffixes.

Word formation - the basics

Word formation is the action of creating new words using existing ones in the language, by means of a number of techniques:

Compounding (Zusammensetzung)

By combining two or more self-standing words, the result is a new word, a compound. It is possible to combine different parts of speech together, as the examples show:

Noun + noun	Verb + noun	Adjective + verb
Garten-haus	Reit-halle	hell-sehen

Derivation (Ableitung)

The creation of new words by adding suffixes and prefixes to existing words, and thus giving them new meanings, is called derivation.
Prefixes: be, emp, ent, er, ge, miss, un, ur, ver, zer ...
Suffixes: -bar, -haft, -ig, -isch, -lich, -los, -chen, -er, -heit, -keit, -ung ...

Conversion

A word can be used as another part of speech without any changes in form:
ernst(Adjective) -> Ernst(noun)
essen(Verb) -> Essen(noun)

Abbreviation (Kürzung)

New words can also be formed by shortening other words. Another example:

Base forms	Hof, Schuld
New words by compounding with different stems:	Schulhof, Schuldfrage
New words by adding a prefix	Vorhof, Unschuld
New words by adding a suffix	höflich, schuldig

New words can't be formed by inflection

You can obtain different forms of a word by inflecting it at different grammatical categories, however this variation does not change the meaning of the word. You won't find them in a dictionary!

Why study german?

Before we actually delve into the language, we will present some reasons that make the knowledge of German a very important skill to have, in case you're still undecided about whether to invest a lot of time in it or not.

1. Spoken by almost 100 million Europeans as a first language, the German language is one of the major languages of the world. Which means that by learning it you get the ability to communicate with people from countries like Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Lichtenstein etc.
2. You will be able to read original literary masterpieces from authors such as Goethe and Schiller. More than 60.000 books are published every year in German, making it the third language in the world in this respect. Not all of the cultural information can be retained through translation. Another fact to keep in mind is that most composers where German speakers.
3. You widen your job opportunities, especially if you live in Europe. On top of that, Germany is an economic powerhouse of the European Union, meaning you are likely to encounter opportunities to speak German if you work in a big company.
4. If you are an European Union citizen you can study at universities in Germany or Austria, with no tuition fees.
5. While English has overtaken German as the language with the most scientific papers published, knowing it is still a useful asset. 
6. If you've got no other reason, you should know that learning another language is a process that causes a big development of the brain.