Compound words
A compound word is two words joined into one, like sun and flower making sunflower. Here’s how to find the join every time, in Rush and in the exam.
Chapter 1
What are compound word questions?
Two words joined into one, with no gap, make a compound word. Bed and room make bedroom.
In Rush you get one word and four options. Only one option joins on to make a real word.
The question. It says whether the option goes on the end of the word or in front of it.
The word. The one you join on to.
Many 11+ papers ask it another way: two groups of three words, and you join one from each. Chapter 4 shows you how.
door + ?
Which word goes on the end to make one word?
- Option 1: back
- Option 2: out
- Option 3: step
- Option 4: trap
A Verbal question from Rush, level 1.
Chapter 2
Solve it in 3 steps.
Here’s the question, one step at a time.
The question
door + ?
Which word goes on the end to make one word?
- Option 1: back
- Option 2: out
- Option 3: step
- Option 4: trap
A Verbal question from Rush, level 1.
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Step 1
Check which side.
The question says the option goes on the end. So it’s door first, then the option. Say the order to yourself before you try anything.
On the end: door, then the option.
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Step 2
Join each one and say it.
Put each option after door and say the two as one word, in your head in the exam. Doorback, doorout and doortrap are nonsense. Doorstep sounds like a word you know.
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DOORBACK, not a word -
DOOROUT, not a word - DOORSTEP, a real word
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DOORTRAP, not a word
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Step 3
Spell it, and check it’s one word.
Doorstep is every letter of door, then every letter of step, with nothing added or lost. It’s written with no gap, so it counts.
One word, no gap: doorstep.
Two mistakes this question sets
| The mistake | Do this instead |
|---|---|
| Turning it round. Out and trap do make words, outdoor and trapdoor. But there they go in front of door, and this question wants the end. | Say the order first, door then the option, and only join that way round. |
| Picking two words. Back and door make back door, but that’s written as two words. And back goes in front anyway. | Only a word with no gap counts. Two words, or words joined by a hyphen, don’t. |
So it’s step. Door + step makes doorstep: one real word, with step on the end.
Remember: Right side. Join, don’t match. Read it.
Chapter 3
The catches.
The harder questions use these. Know them and they stop being catches.
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The parts don’t have to make sense
Only the letters count, not the meaning.
Fat and her make father. Pup and pet make puppet. Most answers in the papers are like this, and nearly all of Rush’s hardest. Trap: crossing out a pair because the words don’t go together.
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Say it, then spell it
Saying finds the word. Spelling checks it.
Hat and red make hatred, which sounds nothing like its parts, so say every join. Trap: some and wear sound like somewhere, but somewhere ends in where, so spell it too.
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Every letter stays
Nothing added at the join, nothing taken away.
Kitten has two Ts because kit brings one and ten brings the other. Trap: all and ways sound like always, but they spell allways. Always has one L.
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Join, don’t match
An option that goes with the word is there to catch you.
One Rush question puts sun, light, candle and moon after lamp. Sun, candle and moon all shine like a lamp, but only light joins on: lamplight.
Stuck? Look for a short word
Rush’s hardest answers often start or end with one: cab + in, of + ten, man + age. These come up most.
Chapter 4: In the exam
Two groups of words.
Many 11+ papers set compound words this way. Rush asks one word at a time, which builds speed, and the same checks still work.
The questionTake one word from each group to make one new word. The word from the first group comes first. (ball, sum, car) (where, foot, pet)
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Step 1
First group first.
Ball and foot make football, but foot is in the second group. Joined in the right order they make ballfoot, which isn’t a word.
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Step 2
Try all nine joins.
Join each word in the first group to each word in the second, and say each as one word. Seven are nonsense. Two sound like they could be words.
Ringed: the two that sound like words.
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Step 3
Spell the ones that sound right.
Sumwhere sounds like somewhere, but somewhere starts with some. Car and pet spell carpet exactly. It doesn’t matter that a car isn’t a pet.
So it’s car and pet. Car + pet makes carpet: first group first, one word, every letter right.
Remember: First group first. Try all nine.
Groups that look alike
Some papers fill a group with words one letter apart, like pin, pan and pen. Don’t pick by looks: try every join. Only pan + cake makes a word.
Chapter 5
Try it yourself.
Six real questions from Rush, easy to hard, 60 seconds on the clock.
Use the steps
- Check which side.
- Join each one and say it.
- Spell it, and check it’s one word.
Remember: Right side. Join, don't match. Read it.
For parents.
What parents ask us about compound words.
Questions parents ask
What is a compound word?
A word made by joining two smaller words: foot and ball make football. In 11+ questions the rule is looser. Any word that splits into two real words counts, even when the meaning has nothing to do with the parts, so carrot (car + rot) is a fair answer.
Is there an 11+ compound words list?
There’s no official list, and setters use words a ten-year-old meets in books. The habit that helps most is splitting long words while reading: a child who spots know + ledge in knowledge is practising exactly what this question asks.
Should my child think about what the two words mean?
No, and that surprises children. In synonym, analogy and odd-one-out questions meaning is what counts, so they look for two words that go together, like sun and moon. Compound questions are about letters, not meaning. Saying each option joined, out loud, as one word breaks the habit faster than explaining it.
Does the joined word have to be spelt exactly?
Yes. No letter can be added, dropped or doubled where the words meet. If the only way to make a word is to change a letter, that option is wrong.
Rush: 11+ Practice & KS2 SATsPractise compound words in Rush.
- Compounds as 100-second games, easy at first and harder as your child improves
- Every miss kept with the right answer and why
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