In Portuguese, the use of diminutives and augmentatives is quite common. Understanding some rules and familiarity with some vocabulary in this category will help you perfect your Portuguese and bring it closer to native speakers.
Diminutives
In the English language, we sometimes form the diminutive by suffixing “–y” or “–ie,” 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 Portuguese, 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. It is also important to remember that the diminutive can be used for nouns, adjectives, and sometimes adverbs.
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.
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.”
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) |
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