In this comparative grammar lesson of Romance languages, we study diminutives and augmentatives in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, & French. Diminutives and augmentatives are sometimes used to exaggerate descriptions or show certain emotions such as endearment or affection. Understanding some rules and familiarity with some vocabulary in this category will help you enhance your understanding of the language.
Table of Contents
1. Diminutives
In the English language, we sometimes form the diminutive by suffixing “–ie” or “–y,” as in “doggie” for “dog” and “kitty” for “kitten,” indicating small size and sometimes the state or quality of being familiarly known, lovable, pitiable, or contemptible. Sometimes other suffixes are used, such as “–ette” in “kitchenette” and “novelette,” “–let” in “booklet” and “droplet,” and “–ling” in “duckling” and “gosling” (a young goose).
In Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French, the purpose of using the diminutive is often similar to that in English, although in a few cases, the diminutive may be used to express sarcasm or negativity.
Unfortunately, there are not always specific rules on which suffix to use for a particular word. However, we discuss the most common examples and hope that with practice you can continue to enrich your vocabulary in this area.
Spanish Diminutive Suffixes
There are two general rules to form the diminutive in Spanish. However, there are a few exceptions that we will cover as well as some orthographic changes and regional variations. Let us start with the two general rules:
Rule # 1: Diminutives with the “-ito/-ita” Suffix
For words that end in “o,” “a,” or a consonant other than “n” or “r,” add the ending “-ito” for masculine and “-ita” for feminine at the end of the word.
In the case of words ending with “o” or “a,” remove the “o” or “a” to avoid the double vowel. For example:
| pollom (chicken) | poll | + | -ito | = | pollito (chick) |
| patom (duck) | pat | + | -ito | = | patito (duckling) |
| casaf (house) | cas | + | -ita | = | casita (small house) |
| mesaf (table) | mes | + | -ita | = | mesita (small table) |
| manof (hand) | man | + | -ita | = | manita [1] (little hand) |
| pastelm (cake) | pastel | + | -ito | = | pastelito (small cake) |
| relojm (clock) | reloj | + | -ito | = | relojito (small clock) |
Rule # 2: Diminutives with the “-cito/-cita” Suffix
For words that end in “e,” “n,” or “r,” add the ending “-cito” for masculine and “-cita” for feminine at the end of the word. For example:
| cafém (coffee) | café | + | -cito | = | cafecito (little coffee) |
| callef (street) | calle | + | -cita | = | callecita (little street) |
| suavem,f (soft) | suave | + | -cito -cita | = | suavecito (very soft) |
| suavecita (very soft) | |||||
| favorm (favor) | favor | + | -cito | = | favorcito (little favor) |
| amorm (love) | amor | + | -cito | = | amorcito (sweetie) |
| camión (truck) | camión | + | -cito | = | camioncito (little truck) |
| rincón (corner) | rincón | + | -cito | = | rinconcito (little corner) |
In some words, especially the ones ending in “c” or “z,” an extra “e” is added before the suffix “-cito” or “-cita.” For example:
| florf (flower) | flor | + | –ecita | = | florecita[2] (small flower) |
In addition to the aforementioned suffixes, there are three less common suffixes used to form the diminutive: “-illo/-illa,” “-ico/-ica,” “-zuelo/-zuela.” There are very few words that use these three suffixes, the most common of which are: “bolsillo” (pouch or pocket), which is diminutive of “bolso” (bag), “barbilla” (chin), which is diminutive of “barba” (beard), “mantequilla” (butter), which is diminutive of “manteca” (lard), and “Venezuela” (Little Venice), which is diminutive of “Venecia” (Venice). The “-ico” suffix is used in some regions of Spain and the Caribbean to form some uncommon diminutives, such as “perrico,” which is a diminutive of “perro” (dog) instead of the more common “perrito.”
The variation of diminutives across regions is not uncommon. For example, while the standard diminutive of the word “sol” (sun) is “solecito” (little sun), “solcito” is the diminutive used in Argentina.
To highlight the regional aspect of the use of diminutives, consider the term “ticos,” the name the Costa Ricans are called and proudly call themselves due to their ubiquitous use of the “-tico” ending to form diminutives, e.g., “momentico,” “pizzatica,” “perritico,” “chiquitico,” etc.
While the aforementioned rules cover most diminutives, some words remain difficult to categorize, such as “nuevo” (new), the diminutive of which is “nuevecito” (brand-new), and “pez” (fish), the diminutive of which is “pececito” (small fish). Note also that the meaning sometimes changes when the word is in the diminutive form.
Finally, when necessary, orthographic changes are applied to maintain the correct pronunciation sounds and spelling rules. These are similar to the rules we encountered in verb conjugation rules throughout the lessons. For example:
| “c” to “qu” | pocom (little) | poc | + | -ito | = | poquito (very little) |
| chicom (small, boy) | chic | + | -ito | = | chiquito (tiny, little boy) | |
| chicaf (girl) | chic | + | -ita | = | chiquita (little girl) | |
| “g” to “gu” | amigom (friend) | amig | + | -ito | = | amiguito (little friend) |
| tragom (sip) | trag | + | -ito | = | traguito (little sip) | |
| “z” to “c” | lápizm (pencil) | lápiz | + | -ito | = | lapicito (small pencil) |
| luzf (light) | luz | + | -ecita | = | lucecita[3] (little light) |
Portuguese Diminutive Suffixes
The most common suffixes to form diminutives in Brazilian Portuguese are “-inho” for the masculine and “-inha” for the feminine. We will classify the diminutives based on the ending of the noun or adjective:
1. Nouns and adjectives that end with “-s,” “-z,” unstressed “-a,” “-e,” or “-o” (except “-io” and “-ia”)
These words drop the final unstressed vowel, then add “-inho” if the word is masculine and “-inha” if the word is feminine.
Some examples in this category include:
| carrom (car) | carr | + | -inho | = | carrinhom (small car) |
| casaf (house) | cas | + | -inha | = | casinhaf (little house) |
| vozf (voice) | voz | + | -inha | = | vozinhaf (little voice) |
| rapazm(boy) | rapaz | + | -inho | = | rapazinhom (little boy) |
| bonitom (pretty) | bonit | + | -inho | = | bonitinhom (cute) |
| -inha | = | bonitinhaf (cute) |
2. Nouns and adjectives with other endings (including “-io,” “-ia”, and stressed “-a,” “-e,” or “-o”)
Most words in this group add a “z” before “-inho” if the word is masculine and “-inha” if the word is feminine.
Here are some examples:
| papelm (sun) | papel | + | -zinho | = | papelzinhom (little paper) |
| florf (flower) | flor | + | -zinha | = | florzinhaf (little flower) |
| cafém (coffee) | café | + | -zinho | = | cafezinhom (small coffee) |
| mãof (hand) | mão | + | -zinha | = | mãozinhaf (little hand) |
| viagemf(trip) | viagem | + | -zinha | = | viagenzinhaf (small trip) |
Notice also that the stress is always on the diminutive ending. Thus, any written accent is dropped except accents that denote nasal sound, e.g., “cafezinho” (small coffee).
In addition, if a word ends with an “m,” it is changed into “n” before adding the diminutive ending, e.g., “viagenzinha” (little trip).
In some cases, the word can acquire a new meaning in the diminutive form. For example, the diminutive “carrinho” means a “small car,” but it can also mean a “toy car.”
Not all diminutives follow these rules. Some use less common suffixes, such as “livretem” (carnet), “ruelaf” (small street), and “riachom” (creek or brook), the diminutive forms of “livrom” (book), “ruaf” (street), and “riom” (river), respectively.
Italian Diminutive Suffixes
1. “-ino”
The suffix “-ino” is commonly used to form diminutives from masculine singular nouns and adjectives. Regular end-changes often apply for feminine and plural forms.
Let us take some examples of diminutives ending in “-ino”:
| ragazzom (boy) | ragazz | + | -ino | = | ragazzinom (young or little boy) |
| ragazzaf (girl) | ragazz | + | -ina | = | ragazzinaf (young or little girl) |
| gattom (cat) | gatt | + | -ino | = | gattinom (kitten) |
| tazzaf (cup) | tazz | + | -ina | = | tazzinaf (small cup) |
| manof (hand) | man | + | -ina | = | maninaf [4] (little hand) |
| bellom (beautiful) | bell | + | -ino | = | bellinom (cute) |
The above examples include nouns and adjectives. Some adverbs can also be used in diminutive forms. These usually use the “-ino” suffix. For example:
| bene (well) | ben | + | -ino | = | benino (goodish) |
| male (badly) | mal | + | -ino | = | malino (a little badly) |
| presto (soon) | prest | + | -ino | = | prestino (a little soon) |
| tanto (much) | tant | + | -ino | = | tantino (a little much) |
| poco (little) | poc | + | -ino | = | pochino (a tiny bit) |
| tardi (late) | tard | + | -ino | = | tardinom (a bit late) |
Sometimes “-ic-” or “-ol-” is inserted before the suffix, forming the modified suffixes “-icino” or “-olino,” respectively. Here are some examples:
| postom (place) | post | + | -ino | = | posticinom (small place) |
| librom (book) | libr | + | -ino | = | libriccinom (booklet) |
| topom (mouse) | top | + | -ino | = | topolinom (little mouse) |
| magrom (thin) | magr | + | -ino | = | magrolinof (skinny) |
| canem (dog) | can | + | -ino | = | cagnolinom (small dog) |
The suffix “-ino” is widely used when affectionately describing or talking about babies, e.g., “faccino” (little face), “manina” (little hand), etc.
2. “-etto”
Another common suffix used to form diminutives is “-etto.” This suffix is often applied affectionately to names, especially female names, using the suffix feminine form “-etta,” e.g., “Lauretta” (diminutive for “Laura”), “Paoletta” (diminutive for “Paola”). Let us take a look at some examples:
| casaf (house) | cas | + | -etta | = | casettaf (small house) |
| poverom (poor) | pover | + | -etto | = | poverettom (poor little guy) |
| canem (dog) | can | + | -etto | = | cagnettom (small dog) |
| borsaf (purse) | bors | + | -etta | = | borsettaf (small purse) |
| piccolom (small) | piccol | + | -etto | = | piccolettom (shorty) |
3. “-ello”
The suffix “-ello” can also be used to form diminutives. Here are some examples:
| alberom (tree) | alber | + | -ello | = | alberellom (small tree) |
| finestraf (window) | finestr | + | -ella | = | finestrellam (little window) |
| cattivom (bad) | cattiv | + | -ello | = | cattivellom (naughty) |
Sometimes “-ic-” or “-er-” is inserted before the suffix, forming the modified suffixes “-icello” or “-erello,” respectively. Here are some examples:
| campom (field) | camp | + | –icello | = | campicellom (small field) |
| fattom (fact) | fatt | + | –erello | = | fatterellom (anecdote or minor event) |
4. “-uccio”
The suffix “-uccio” is sometimes used to form diminutives showing affection or endearment when used with proper nouns, e.g., “Micheluccio” (diminutive for “Michele”), “Guiduccio” (diminutive for “Guido”), “Mariuccia” (diminutive for “Maria”), etc. In other contexts, it may be used as a pejorative. Here are some examples of diminutives using the suffix “-uccio”:
| avvocatom (lawyer) | avvocat | + | -uccio | = | avvocatucciom (inferior lawyer) |
| caldom (hot) | cald | + | -uccio | = | calducciom (cozy) |
| cappellom (hat) | cappell | + | -uccio | = | cappellucciom (worn-out hat) |
| casaf (house) | cas | + | -uccia | = | casucciaf (small cozy house) |
| ziom (uncle) | zi | + | -uccio | = | ziucciom (dear uncle) |
5. “-otto”
The suffix “-otto” is used to form diminutives. It is sometimes used to refer to baby animals. Here are some examples of diminutives that take the suffix “-otto”:
| giovanem (young) | giovan | + | -otto | = | giovanottom (young lad) |
| aquilaf (eagle) | aquil | + | -otto | = | aquilottom (eaglet) |
| tigref (tiger) | tigr | + | -otto | = | tigrottom (tiger cub) |
Sometimes “-acchi-” is inserted before the suffix, forming the modified suffix “-acchiotto.” Here are some examples:
| lupom (wolf) | lup | + | –acchiotto | = | lupacchiottom (wolf cub) |
| orsom (bear) | ors | + | –acchiotto | = | orsacchiottom (bear cub or teddy bear) |
| tigref (tiger) | tigr | + | –acchiotto | = | tigracchiottom (tiger cub) |
6. “-uzzo”
Another less common suffix is “-uzzo,” although is more common in some Southern regions of Italy. Examples include:
| pietraf (stone) | pietr | + | -uzza | = | pietruzzaf (pebble) |
| pagliaf (straw) | pagli | + | -uzza | = | pagliuzzaf (little straw) |
We can also sometimes combine two diminutive suffixes, e.g., “casettina” (very small house), “giovanottino” (young lad).
Although these are not all the suffixes used to form diminutives in Italian, most other suffixes are either of mainly regional use or rarely encountered in daily life.
French Diminutive Suffixes
The most common diminutive suffixes in French are “-et” for masculine and “-ette” for feminine. If the word ends with a vowel, the final vowel is dropped before adding the suffix. Here are some nouns in diminutive forms:
| livrem (boy) | livr | + | -et | = | livretm (booklet) |
| jardinm (garden) | jardin | + | -et | = | jardinetm (little garden) |
| fillef (girl) | fill | + | -ette | = | fillettef (little girl) |
| cigarem (cigar) | cigar | + | -ette | = | cigarettef (cigarette) |
| maisonf (house) | maison | + | -ette | = | maisonettef (little house) |
The suffixes “-et” and “-ette” can also be used with adjectives. In this context, the suffix has a similar function to the “-ish” suffix in English. The suffix is usually added to the feminine form of the adjective, for example:
| gentillef (nice) | gentill | + | -et -ette | = | gentilletm gentillettef | (somewhat nice) |
| jaunem,f (yellow) | jaun | + | -et -ette | = | jaunetm jaunettef | (yellowish) |
| mollef (soft) | moll | + | -et -ette | = | molletm mollettef | (somewhat soft) |
In addition, some verbs take on the suffix “-et” or “-ette” to form a noun that is related to the verb, for example:
| jouer (to play) | jou | + | -et | = | jouetm (toy) |
| sonner (to ring) | sonn | + | -ette | = | sonnettem (bell) |
| fumer (to smoke) | fum | + | -et | = | fumetm (aroma) |
Finally, some given names, especially female names, take the suffix “-et” or “-ette” to form diminutive forms, for example:
| Marie | Mari | + | -ette | = | Mariette |
| Anne | Ann | + | -ette | = | Annette |
| Jeanne | Jeann | + | -ette | = | Jeannette |
Other less common diminutives in French include: “-ot,” “-otte,” and “-on.” Here are some examples:
| Pierre | Pierr | + | -ot | = | Pierrot |
| chatm (cat) | chat | + | -on | = | chatonm (kitten) |
| oursm (bear) | ours | + | -on | = | oursonm (cub) |
2. Augmentatives
Augmentatives are the opposite of diminutives. They indicate that something is large or intense, sometimes in an undesirable way. Augmentatives can apply to nouns and adjectives. In the English language, although not as versatile and common, augmentatives are formed by using prefixes rather than suffixes. You can think of the prefix “super–” in “superpower” and “supernatural,” the prefix “mega–” in “megaphone” and “megastore,” the prefix “grand–” in “grandmaster” and “grandfather,” the prefix “over–” in “overgrown” and “overqualified,” and the prefix “arch–” in “archrival” and “archenemy.”
Spanish Augmentative Suffixes
In Spanish, we use suffixes, such as: “-ón/-ona,” “-azo/-aza,” “-ote/-ota,” “-udo/-uda,” and “-achón/-achona,” to form augmentatives. Unfortunately, there are no rules to guess which suffix to use. Practice is the only way. Thus, we will classify the augmentatives based on the meaning they convey rather than the suffix they use.
1. Augmentatives that indicate a large size
Some examples in this category include:
| perrom (dog) | perr | + | -ote | = | perrotem (big or mean dog) |
| -azo | = | perrazom (big or mean dog) | |||
| hombrem (man) | hombr | + | -ón | = | hombrónm (big strong man) |
| casaf (house) | cas | + | -ona | = | casonaf (big house) |
| animalm (animal) | animal | + | -ote | = | animalotem (big or nasty animal) |
2. Augmentatives that indicate intensity
Some examples in this category include:
| buenom (good) | buen | + | -azo | = | buenazom (good-natured) |
| éxitom (success) | éxit | + | -azo | = | exitazom (great success) |
| cochem (car) | coch | + | -azo | = | cochazom (amazing car) |
| películaf (movie) | películ | + | -ón | = | peliculónm (blockbuster) |
3. Augmentatives that indicate a strike or blow
The suffix “-azo” is often used to form masculine words that refer to a specific type of strike, hit, or blow. Examples in this category include:
| codom (elbow) | cod | + | -azo | = | codazom (elbow jab) |
| cabezaf (head) | cabez | + | -azo | = | cabezazom (headbutt) |
| martillom (hammer) | martill | + | -azo | = | martillazom (hammer blow) |
| misilm (missile) | misil | + | -azo | = | misilazom (missile strike) |
4. Augmentatives that form new words
In some cases, new words with their own meanings can be formed using augmentatives. Examples in this category include:
| sillaf (chair) | sill | + | -ón | = | sillónm (armchair) |
| cinturaf (waist) | cintur | + | -ón | = | cinturónm (belt) |
| rataf (rat) | rat | + | -ón | = | ratónm (mouse) |
| cajaf (box) | caj | + | -ón | = | cajónm (drawer) |
| papelm (paper) | papel | + | -ote | = | papelotem (worthless[5] paper) |
Notice that in some cases, the augmentative word changes gender, often from feminine to masculine, as in the feminine words “película,” “silla,” and “rata,” the augmentatives of which are masculine: “peliculón,” “sillón,” and “ratón,” respectively.
Some words have multiple augmentative forms. These forms may convey the same meaning or a different meaning. For example, the augmentatives “cabezón,” “cabezote,” and “cabezudo” all mean stubborn or big-headed, literally or figuratively, formed from the word “cabeza” (head). On the other hand, the augmentative “cabezazo,” also formed from the word “cabeza,” has a different meaning, that is, a headbuttor a header (in sports).
In addition to the dropping of “o” or “a” to avoid the double vowel, some words undergo some minor changes, such as the “ue” change to “o” in “cordón” (shoelace), “portazo” (door slam), and “fortachón” (beefy), augmentatives of “cuerda” (rope or string), “puerta” (door), and “fuerte” (strong), respectively.
Finally, some words remain hard to guess and must be learned by practice, such as “grandullón” (overgrown) and “favorzote” (huge favor), augmentatives of “grande” (big) and “favor” (favor), respectively.
Portuguese Augmentative Suffixes
In Portuguese, the most common suffix to form augmentatives is “-ão” for the masculine and “-ona” for the feminine. We will classify the augmentatives based on the ending of the noun or adjective:
1. Nouns and adjectives that end with unstressed “-a,” “-e,” or “-o” (except “-io” and “-ia”)
These words drop the final unstressed vowel, then add “-ão” if the word is masculine or “-ona” if the word is feminine.
Some examples in this category include:
| livrom (book) | livr | + | -ão | = | livrãom (large book) |
| mesaf (table) | mes | + | -ona | = | mesonaf (large table) |
| peixem(fish) | peix | + | -ão | = | peixãom (big fish) |
| bonitom (pretty) | bonit | + | -ão | = | bonitãom (very handsome) |
| -ona | = | bonitonaf (very pretty) |
2. Nouns and adjectives with other endings (including “-io,” “-ia”, and stressed “-a,” “-e,” or “-o”)
Most words in this group simply add “-zão” if the word is masculine or “-zona” if the word is feminine.
Some examples in this category include:
| solm (sun) | sol | + | -zão | = | solzãom (very hot or bright son) |
| paim (father) | pai | + | -zão | = | paizãom (dedicated father) |
| mãef (mother) | mãe | -zona | mãezonaf (dedicated mother) | ||
| tiom(uncle) | tio | + | -zão | = | tiozãom (dedicated uncle) |
| pém (foot) | pé | + | -zão | = | pezãom (big foot) |
Notice also that the stress is always on the augmentative ending. Thus, any written accent is dropped except accents that denote nasal sound, e.g., “pezão” (big foot).
As an exception to words in this category, some nouns and adjectives ending in “-l” or “-r” add a final “-ão/-ona” to form the augmentative instead of “-zão/-zona,” e.g., “colheronaf” (large spoon), i.e., the augmentative of “colherf” (spoon).
In some cases, feminine nouns have masculine gender in the augmentatives. For example:
| cabeçaf (head) | cabeç | + | -ão | = | cabeçãom (big head) |
| mãof (hand) | mã | + | -zão | = | mãozãom (big hand) |
Some words do not follow the above rules and must be learned by practice, such as “casarão” (big house) and “vozeirão” (powerful voice), augmentatives of “casa” (house) and “voz” (voice), respectively.
Another less common suffix in the augmentative is “-aço.” The most common examples are:
| golm (goal) | gol | + | -aço | = | golaçom (great goal) |
| jogom (game) | jog | + | -aço | = | jogaçof (great game) |
Italian Augmentative Suffixes
In Italian, we mainly use the suffix “-one,” and in less common cases “-ona,” to form augmentatives. It is common for many feminine nouns to change their gender to masculine and take the suffix “-one” to form the augmentative. To form the augmentative, the final vowel is dropped, and the suffix is added.
Let us take some examples:
| ragazzom (boy) | ragazz | + | -one | = | ragazzonem (very tall boy) |
| casaf (house) | cas | + | -one | = | casonem (big house) |
| librom (book) | libr | + | -one | = | libronem (very large book) |
| portaf (door) | port | + | -one | = | portonem (main gate or entrance) |
| donnaf (woman) | donn | + | -one | = | donnonem (very tall woman) |
| sorellaf (sister) | sorell | + | -ona | = | sorellonaf (big sister) |
While these are the most common suffixes, there are some less-common suffixes, some of which may also have a pejorative or sarcastic connotation, such as “-accione” and “-acchione.” For example:
| buonom (good) | b | + | -accione | = | bonaccionem (good-natured) |
| mattom (mad) | matt | + | -acchione | = | mattacchionem (joker) |
| furbom (cunning) | furb | + | -acchione | = | furbacchionem (slick) |
Notice that the above examples are of singular nouns. The plural is often regular and formed by changing the ending to “-i” for masculine plural, e.g., “casoni” (big houses) and “-e” for feminine plural, e.g., “sorellone” (big sisters).
French Augmentative Suffixes
In French, it is uncommon to use augmentative suffixes. Instead, similar prefixes to the ones used in English are sometimes used with some words, such as: “supermarché” (supermarket), “surhumain” (superhuman), “hyperactif” (hyperactive), etc.
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