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How to Answer 11+ Compound Word Questions

A compound word is one word built from two smaller ones: sun + set = sunset, foot + ball = football. In this question type you are given two groups of short words in brackets, and you must choose one word from each group so that, joined together, they make one correctly spelt word. The word from the first group always comes first.

Some versions are gentler: you are given one word — say TOOTH — and asked which of the options joins on to it to make a real word. Both versions test the same skills: vocabulary, spelling, and the knack of hearing a real word the moment two pieces click together.

Children usually enjoy this type, but it hides a sly twist: the answer often has nothing to do with the meanings of its parts. CAR + PET makes CARPET — which is neither a car nor a pet. If you hunt for words that "go together" in meaning, you will miss answers that only make sense as spelling.

The method

  1. Read both groups and remember the rule: first group first. You are joining a group-one word onto the front of a group-two word, never the other way round.
  2. Work through the joins in order. Take the first word of group one and try it in front of each word in group two. Then the second word, and so on. Being systematic means the right pair cannot slip past you.
  3. Say each join in your head. Real words sound right straight away — BUSPET sounds like nonsense, CARPET clicks.
  4. Try the small, common words first. Words like sun, ball, light and book build the most compounds, so they are the likeliest ingredients.
  5. Spell-check the winner. The two words must join with no letters added, dropped or changed. If you have to bend the spelling to make it work, it is not the answer.
  6. Ignore meaning completely. The joined word does not need any connection to the meaning of its two parts.

Worked examples

Example 1

Which word joins on to the end of TOOTH to make one real word?

A. LAMP B. GATE C. BRUSH D. VEST

  1. Try each join: TOOTHLAMP, TOOTHGATE, TOOTHBRUSH, TOOTHVEST.
  2. Say them in your head. Three are nonsense; one is sitting in your bathroom.
  3. The answer is C. BRUSH — TOOTH + BRUSH = TOOTHBRUSH.

Example 2

Find two words, one from each group, that together make one correctly spelt word. The word from the first group comes first.

(A. bus B. car C. van) (D. cub E. hen F. pet)

  1. Work through group one in order: BUSCUB, BUSHEN, BUSPET — all nonsense.
  2. Next word: CARCUB, CARHEN... CARPET. That one clicks.
  3. Quick spelling check: car + pet joins cleanly into carpet, no letters changed.
  4. The answer is B + F: CAR + PET = CARPET.

Example 3

Find two words, one from each group, that together make one correctly spelt word. The word from the first group comes first.

(A. bran B. clay C. moss) (D. unit E. dish F. glee)

  1. Nothing here joins into an everyday word, so trust the routine: BRANUNIT, no. BRANDISH... that sounds like a real word, even if you cannot quite picture it.
  2. It is one: to brandish something is to wave it about, like a knight brandishing a sword.
  3. Check the remaining joins to be safe — CLAYUNIT, MOSSGLEE and the rest are all nonsense.
  4. The answer is A + E: BRAN + DISH = BRANDISH.

The traps

Hunting by meaning. Groups like (bus car van) and (cub hen pet) tease you into matching themes — vehicles with animals. But CARPET has nothing to do with cars or pets. The join is about spelling, never meaning.

The nearly-word. Some joins sound almost real when you mumble them quickly. The question asks for one correctly spelt word — if the join needs a letter added, dropped or swapped to work, cross it out.

The wrong order. The word from the first group always comes first. PET + CAR is not a word, and no marks are given for spotting the right pieces in the wrong order.

The unfamiliar answer. Harder questions hide grown-up words like BRANDISH, or HAMLET (a tiny village). If a join sounds like a word you have vaguely heard somewhere, it probably is one — do not reject it just because you cannot define it.

Try these yourself

1.

Which word goes in FRONT of FAST to make one real word?

A. GARDEN B. PUDDLE C. SHOUT D. BREAK

2.

Find two words, one from each group, that together make one correctly spelt word. The word from the first group comes first.

(A. sock B. pump C. dart) (D. ivy E. oat F. kin)

3.

Find two words, one from each group, that together make one correctly spelt word. The word from the first group comes first.

(A. bat B. jay C. ear) (D. shot E. herd F. yolk)

Answers

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