Dutch is famous for its compound words — nouns built by stacking two or more words together. The compound takes the gender of its final element. Examples: the fiets (bike) + pad (path) = het fietspad (cycle path); werk (work) + gever (giver) = de werkgever (employer); huis (house) + arts (physician) = de huisarts (GP).
Sometimes a connecting element is added: -en- or -s-. Zo: stad (city) + scentrum? No: stads + centrum = het stadscentrum (city centre); school + tas = de schooltas (school bag) — no connector; kinderen (children) + dagverblijf = het kinderdagverblijf (childcare centre). Learning to recognise these connecting elements helps decode new words.
Strategies for long compounds: work from right to left — the rightmost element is the head noun and determines the gender and core meaning. De slaapkamerdeur = de deur (door) of the slaapkamer (bedroom). De vliegtuigmaatschappij = de maatschappij (company) that deals with vliegtuigen (aeroplanes) — an airline. This right-to-left decoding strategy unlocks thousands of Dutch words you have never seen before.