Spanish builds new nouns by combining existing words into single compounds. Paraguas (umbrella) is literally "stops-waters." Abrelatas (can opener) is literally "opens-cans." Sacacorchos (corkscrew) is literally "removes-corks." These compounds are delightfully transparent once you see the pieces, and they behave in consistent ways that make their gender and plurals predictable.
This page covers the main patterns for forming compounds, their gender and number rules, and the handful of exceptions.
Pattern 1: Verb + Plural Noun
The most common and productive Spanish compound pattern is verb (third-person singular) + plural noun. The verb describes the action, and the plural noun describes what the action operates on.
Compré un paraguas nuevo y un abrelatas automático.
I bought a new umbrella and an automatic can opener.
How to Read Them
Break each compound into its verb and its noun:
- paraguas = para (stops) + aguas (waters) — "it stops waters"
- abrelatas = abre (opens) + latas (cans) — "it opens cans"
- sacacorchos = saca (removes) + corchos (corks) — "it removes corks"
- lavaplatos = lava (washes) + platos (dishes) — "it washes dishes"
- cumpleaños = cumple (completes) + años (years) — "it completes years"
- limpiaparabrisas = limpia (cleans) + parabrisas (windshield) — "it cleans the windshield"
- rascacielos = rasca (scratches) + cielos (skies) — "it scratches the skies"
- matamoscas = mata (kills) + moscas (flies) — flyswatter
- espantapájaros = espanta (scares) + pájaros (birds) — scarecrow
- guardaespaldas = guarda (guards) + espaldas (backs) — bodyguard
- quitanieves = quita (removes) + nieves (snows) — snowplow
- portaaviones = porta (carries) + aviones (planes) — aircraft carrier
El guardaespaldas del actor siempre lleva un matamoscas en la mochila.
The actor's bodyguard always carries a flyswatter in his backpack.
Gender and Number
These verb + noun compounds are always masculine, regardless of the gender of the internal noun: el paraguas, el cumpleaños, el lavaplatos, el guardaespaldas. And they are invariable — the singular and plural look identical, because the word already ends in -s.
Los rascacielos de la ciudad son impresionantes.
The city's skyscrapers are impressive.
Un cumpleaños → dos cumpleaños → los cumpleaños. You only know it is plural from the article los.
Pattern 2: Noun + Noun
Less productive than the verb + noun pattern, but still common. Two nouns join to form a new concept, usually with the first noun as the "main" meaning and the second as a modifier.
El coche-cama del tren nocturno es muy cómodo.
The sleeping car on the night train is very comfortable.
Examples:
- coche-cama — sleeping car (train)
- coche-restaurante — dining car
- hombre-rana — frogman, diver
- pez espada — swordfish
- pájaro carpintero — woodpecker
- bomba lapa — limpet mine
- reloj despertador — alarm clock
- camión cisterna — tanker truck
Gender and Plurals
These compounds take their gender from the first noun: el coche-cama (because coche is masculine), el hombre-rana (masculine hombre), el pez espada (masculine pez).
For the plural, usually only the first element pluralizes:
- los coches-cama
- los hombres-rana
- los peces espada
- los pájaros carpinteros (sometimes both pluralize if the second is felt to be adjectival)
- los relojes despertadores
Vimos varios peces espada en el acuario.
We saw several swordfish at the aquarium.
Pattern 3: Noun + Adjective or Adjective + Noun
A noun can join with an adjective in either order to produce a new concept. These compounds are often lexicalized — they have become standalone words in the dictionary.
El aguardiente es una bebida fuerte, típica de muchos países.
Firewater is a strong drink, typical in many countries.
Examples:
- aguardiente — agua
- ardiente (burning water) — strong liquor
- buenaventura — buena
- ventura — good fortune
- malhumor — mal
- humor — bad mood
- altavoz — alta
- voz — loudspeaker (literally "high voice")
- hierbabuena — hierba
- buena — mint (literally "good herb")
- mediodía — medio
- día — midday, noon
- medianoche — media
- noche — midnight
Gender
The gender is usually taken from the noun component, not the adjective: el aguardiente (masculine despite agua being feminine, because -ente is masculine and the compound is felt as el ardiente), la buenaventura, el altavoz. The rules are not fully predictable, so treat each compound as its own lexical item.
Plurals
Adjective + noun compounds usually pluralize the noun element only:
- los mediodías
- las medianoches
- los altavoces
- las hierbabuenas
Pattern 4: Verb + Verb
A rare pattern, mostly found in proper names or colloquial compounds.
- vaivén — va
- y
- viene — a back-and-forth, fluctuation
- y
- correveidile — corre
- ve
- y
- dile — tattletale, gossip-carrier
- y
- ve
- tejemaneje — teje
- maneje — scheming, maneuvering
Hyphenated and Loan Compounds
Spanish borrows compounds from other languages (mostly English) and sometimes hyphenates them, especially when they are new or technical.
- e-mail (now often written email or correo electrónico)
- CD-ROM
- país-miembro — member country
- socio-económico — socioeconomic
Older hyphenated Spanish compounds tend to lose their hyphen over time: coche cama is now sometimes written cochecama in technical contexts, and fully lexicalized compounds like paraguas never had a hyphen.
Summary Table
| Pattern | Example | Gender | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| verb + plural noun | el paraguas, el cumpleaños, el abrelatas | always masculine | invariable |
| noun + noun | el coche-cama, el pez espada | from first noun | first noun pluralizes |
| noun + adjective | el aguardiente, el altavoz, la hierbabuena | from noun part | noun part pluralizes |
| adjective + noun | el mediodía, la medianoche | from noun part | noun part pluralizes |
| verb + verb | el vaivén, el tejemaneje | masculine | varies (usually -es) |
Why Compounds Are Masculine
The default masculine gender of verb + noun compounds comes from the historical pattern of treating them as abbreviated noun phrases: un aparato que para aguas — "a device that stops waters." The unstated head noun is something like el aparato or el instrumento, which are masculine, and the compound inherits that. Whether you find that convincing or not, the rule is airtight: every verb + noun compound you meet in Spanish is masculine.
What Comes Next
For another way of forming new nouns — this time by converting adjectives, verbs, and participles into nouns — see Nominalization.
Related Topics
- Plural Special CasesA2 — Irregular plural forms and edge cases for Spanish nouns
- Grammatical GenderA1 — Every Spanish noun has a gender — masculine or feminine — which affects articles, adjectives, and pronouns