So I am confusion. Why this is Schwammtuch and this one is Tuchschwamm. Germany explain!

by DeaaRust

9 comments
  1. I’ve never heard “Tuchschwamm” but I guess they use the form of the object as the last term. In both cases two words were merged – we often do that in Germany. The word “tuch” means “scarf / cloth” and “Schwamm” is a sponge.

    Another good example: A brush for hair is “Haarbürste” in German, a brush for clothes is “Kleiderbürste” so the object itself is named last, the use-case named first.

  2. When making composita, the last noun describes what a thing **is**, and the first noun(s) describe additional properties it has.

    E.g. a kochtopf **is** a pot, and it has the additionally property of being used for cooking. A U-Boot is a boat, and it can submerge. And so on.

    The first one is a tuch, and its spongey, so its a schwammtuch. The second one is a sponge, shaped kinda lika a tuch, so its a tuchschwamm (never heard anyone call it that though).

  3. Because the Spontex marketing department decided to call it Tuchschwamm

  4. ~~Second is misspelled in the picture~~

    ~~It’s called *Duschschwamm* as in shower sponge~~

    Sorry, Have been corrected, the second one, is in fact, named like this. Its a stupid name, nothing else.

  5. Who cares about the advantages and language bureaucracy of compounds. Both of these things are obviously a dings

  6. Both words are combined from the same words: “Tuch” (cloth) and “Schwamm” (sponge), but with German compound words, it matters which order you put them. Generally speaking, the last one in the compound word denotes what the thing actually *is*, while everything before it specifies it. To give you another example, if we take the words “Tisch” (table) and “Lampe” (lamp), then the compound word “Tischlampe” is a lamp you put on a table, but a “Lampentisch” would be a table that is also a lamp, or a table full of lamps, or something along those lines.

    So, tldr, “Schwammtuch” is a Tuch that is like a Schwamm, and a “Tuchschwamm” is a Schwamm that is like a Tuch.

  7. Second word describes what it is (what class of object for instance), first word describes for instance what it’s made of, its use or whatever..

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