Compound Nouns
Learn how Swedish compound nouns work, how the last word decides the gender, and how Swedish writes compounds as one single word.
What are compound nouns?
A compound noun is a single noun formed by joining two or more word parts together.
Swedish normally writes the parts of a compound as one word.
tåg + station → tågstation
sjuk + hus → sjukhus
The final part tells us what kind of thing is the actual thing and the preceeding noun describes that last noun.
A tågstation is a type of station, and a sjukhus is a type of hus.
This is also why the final part decides the compound noun's gender.
en station → en tågstation
ett hus → ett sjukhus
Sometimes Swedish uses a linking element between the words. The most common one is -s-. In Swedish grammar, it is often called foge-s.
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The full grammar article explains how Swedish compound nouns are formed, how the last part decides the gender and inflection, common linking elements, and the most common learner mistakes with Swedish compound words.