Compound nouns are made up from two or more words. The last word in the composite must be a noun. It determines the gender and carries the basic meaning of the compound noun. Compound nouns can be formed by combining

- noun + noun, e.g. der Regen (the rain) + die Jacke (the jacket): die Regenjacke (the rain jacket)

- verb + noun, e.g. fahren (to drive) + die Schule (the school): die Fahrschule (the driving school)

- preposition + noun, e.g. auf (on) + der Zug (the train): der Aufzug (the lift)

- adjective + noun, e.g. hoch (high) + das Haus (the house): das Hochhaus (the high-rise building)

It is possible to combine more than two words, e.g.

der Fuß (the foot) + der Ball (the ball) + das Spiel (the match): das Fußballspiel (the soccer match)