From an outsider perspective, I can see why people say that German words sometimes look like someone just smashed their keyboard and rolled with whatever the result is. But then again, we’re so precise and have so many wonderful unique terms, that no other language can even compete. I am specifically talking about this word, if you’re interested. Which you should. But as I was saying – if you’re ever struggling to even know where to start when wanting to pronounce something like the classic [Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän]¹ (yes, that’s three “f” in a row in there and not a typo), you’re certainly not alone. So why do we have those? Well, there’s a really simple reason to it.

Germans just love compound words

That’s it. That’s the entire reason. In English, you either separate words or come up with an entirely new term – “traffic light”, “vacuum cleaner” – you know, all annoyingly neatly spaced. But in German? We just smush everything together into one massive word. And the best thing is, that it’s very often following the simple rule of “describe, what you see”. Here are some random examples:

• Staubsauger: “Staub” (dust) + “Sauger” (sucker)
• Handschuh: “Hand” (hand) + “Schuh” (shoe) – a glove!
• Kühlschrank: “Kühl” (cool) + “Schrank” (cupboard). Yep, that’s a fridge.
• Glühbirne: “Glüh” (glow) + “Birne” (pear). Lightbulb!
• Faultier: “Faul” (lazy) + “Tier” (animal). You guess it right, that’s a sloth.

Just add more

Now, a compound word made up of two parts is the most common – but the beauty (and here’s where our German efficiency comes in), is that you can just add onto it. That way, you can describe something in one word instead of a whole sentence. Perfect! So while other languages dance around a concept, we just create a super-word on the spot, that says exactly what we mean. It doesn’t need to be in the dictionary, either. Germans will still understand it. Like this:

• Schwarzbrot: black+bread, a very dark rye bread
• Schwarzbrotverpackung: black+bread+packaging
• Schwarzbrotverpackungsdrucker: black+bread+packaging+printer
• Schwarzbrotverpackungsdruckerstecker: black+bread+packaging+printer+plug

Now, does this make sense? I mean, if you’re talking about the plug of the printer which is responsible for printing the packaging for the rye bread – then yes! There’s no rule saying a word has to stop at a certain length. We can just keep going.

We just don’t like spaces

Honestly, it’s something I struggle with in English, as I always want to smash words together and I just can’t get over the fact that you separate your words, even if it would be a compound word, technically. No, instead, we believe that if words belong together, they should be physically attached. It’s almost romantic, really.

Like this:

English: “The speed at which a squirrel falls from a tree.”
German: “Eichhörnchenfallgeschwindigkeit.” That’s squirrel-fall-speed.

By eleminating spaces, we save time. Even if it takes twice as long to pronounce the word. We do not care.

Don’t be afraid

Now, I love our compound words. I genuinely think that it gives the language an incredibly freedom and so many creative ways to express yourself. If you’re learning German, however, I understand that they can be intimidating. So if a word looks too long, break it up into its smaller words. And if that doesn’t work? Smile, nod, and pretend you understand. It works 90% of the time.

[Picture by Amanda Jones – thank you!]

1. Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän – now, I am just being mean here. That is a grammatically absolutely legit word, but it’s one of our longest ones – don’t worry. Most are reasonable in length. Anyway, here’s the breakdown: “Donau” (Danube, the river), “Dampf” (steam), “Schiff” (ship), “Fahrt” (tour), “Gesellschaft” (company), “Kapitän” (captain). Easy. It’s the captain for a company organising tours with steam ships on the Danube. ↩︎