What are samengestelde woorden?

In Dutch, we often combine two or more words to create a new word. This is called a ‘samenstelling’ (compound word). For example, ‘pannenkoek’ is a combination of ‘pan’ (pan) and ‘koek’ (cake).

When do we use a between-n?

Sometimes, when we make these compound words, we add a letter ‘n’ in the middle. This is called the ‘tussen-n’ (between-n). We usually use the tussen-n when:

• The first part of the compound word is a noun.
• The second part is a noun that begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, or u).
• It makes the word easier to say.

Examples of tussen-n

But not all compound words use a tussen-n. For example, ‘tafelblad’ (table top) does not have a ‘n’ because ‘tafel’ does not need it for clarity.