Articles for compound words?

Question

I was wondering, in compound words or "complex" ones, let's say, do the article matches with its last word? For example, "Kontrollakt". It's made of **Kontrolle + Akt**, the former being "die", and the latter "der". Do we say "der Kontrollakt" (the one I believe), or "die Kontrollakt"? Are there (notable/famous) exceptions?

Answer 1

Hi there,

In German, the article of any compound word is always determined by its last compound. Therefore, in your example the article is "der" since Akt is male - der Kontrollakt.

I hope this helps!

Esther