Some combinations of two (or more) nouns in a row are so common as to have become everyday words. These are the compound nouns (as discussed in section 2.0.0). In addition, it is possible to combine nouns in the manner of a compound noun to produce a new construct even if it is not a legitimate compound noun ("legitimate" in the sense that it would be found in a dictionary).

The translation of two nouns combined in this way, say N1-N2 (that is, noun #1 followed by noun #2), would be N2 of the N1. For example, nuH weapon and pegh secret combine to form nuH pegh secret of the weapon. An alternate translation would be N1's N2, in this case, the weapon's secret. As discussed in section 3.3.4, this is the Klingon possessive construction for a noun possessed by another noun.

When the noun-noun construction is used, only the second noun can take syntactic suffixes (Type 5). Both nouns, however, may take suffixes of the other four types. For example:

nuHvam pegh secret of this weapon

nuH (noun) weapon

-vam (4) this

pegh (noun) secret

jaghpu' yuQmeyDaq at/to the enemies' planets

jagh (noun) enemy

-pu' (2) plural

yuQ (noun) planet

-mey (2) plural

-Daq (5) locative

puqwI' qamDu' my child's feet

puq (noun) child

-wI' (4) my

qam (noun) foot

-Du (2) plural

English prepositional phrases are also rendered in Klingon by this noun-noun construction. Prepositional concepts such as above and below are actually nouns in Klingon, best translated as "area above", "area below", etc. The locative suffix (section 3.3.5) follows the second noun. For example:

nagh DungDaq above the rock

nagh (noun) rock

Dung (noun) area above

-Daq (5) locative

Possessive suffixes are not used with these prepositional phrases. A pronoun is used instead:

jIH DungDaq above me

jIH (pronoun) I, me

Dung (noun) area above

-Daq (5) locative

In the Sakrej region, however, possessive suffixes are used in place of the independent pronouns: 'emwIj ("behind me" literally, "my area behind"), bIngchaj ("below them"--- literally, "their area below"). Using the possessive suffix  construction when speaking ta' Hol will not lead to misunderstandings, but it will associate the speaker with the residents of Sakrej, which, depending on the political situation, may or may not be beneficial.

In ta' Hol, these would be:

jIH 'emDaq behind me

jIH (pronoun) I, me

'em (noun) area behind

-Daq (5) locative

chaH bIngDaq below them

chaH (pronoun) them

bIng (noun) area below

-Daq (5) locative

When Hoch is used as the first word in a noun-noun construction it has some specific meanings:

Hoch naghmey All the rocks

Hoch nagh Each rock

If a noun following Hoch is explicitly plural, it means "all", if it's singular, it means "each". (HolQeD v5n2p11)