The German language is famous for its long words! Compound words are formed by putting nouns together, like how Frankenstein put together his monster!
das Haus + das Tier = das Haustier
die Orange + der Saft = der Orangensaft
Sometimes, when combining words, an additional letter may be added, such as the ‑n‑ in Orangensaft.
The gender of the compound word is always whatever gender the last word in the compound is.
Let’s look at some more German sounds!
The pf sound isn’t so common in English, especially at the beginning of a word. To pronounce it, try to isolate the sound of the p and f in the word English word capful. If you feel like you’re almost spitting when you say it, it means you’re doing it right!
Pferd
Pferd, Apfel, Knopf
(as in “capful”)
In addition, be careful not to mix up the German v’s and w’s!
Vogel
Vogel, verstehen, voll
(as in “fun”)
Wasser
Wasser, Wein, wie
(as in “van”)
Essen and fressen both mean to eat, but they are not interchangeable. If you use the wrong one, it can be highly insulting because fressen is specifically for animals! Using fressen with a person shows that you think their eating habits are disgusting.
Der Hund frisst Brot.
The dog eats bread (like an animal).
Der Mann isst Brot.
The man eats bread (like a human).
Der Mann frisst Brot.
The man eats bread (like an animal).
Notice that fressen also has the e to i change in the du and er / sie / es forms.