In Spanish, and especially in Latin America, the use of diminutives and augmentatives is ubiquitous. Understanding some rules will help you perfect your Spanish and bring it closer to native speakers.
Diminutives
In English, we sometimes form the diminutive by suffixing “–y” or “–ie,” as in “doggie” for “dog” and “kitty” for “kitten.” It often indicates a small size and sometimes the state or quality of being familiarly known, lovable, pitiable, or contemptible. Sometimes other suffixes are used. For example,“–ette” in “kitchenette” and “novelette,” “–let” in “booklet” and “droplet,” and “–ling” in “duckling.”
In Spanish, the purpose of using the diminutive is often similar to that in English. Nevertheless, in a few cases, the diminutive can express sarcasm or negativity. It is also important to remember that we can use the diminutive with nouns, adjectives, and sometimes adverbs.
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.
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. 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) |
Other Diminutives
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 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.”
While the aforementioned rules cover most diminutives, some words remain difficult to categorize.
For example, “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.
Regional Variations
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 more common 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. For example, “momentico,” “pizzatica,” “perritico,” “chiquitico,” etc.
Finally, when necessary, we apply orthographic changes to maintain the correct pronunciation sounds and spelling rules. These are similar to the rules we encounter in verb conjugation rules. 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) |
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, we form augmentatives 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 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, we form new words with their own meanings 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[4] paper) |
Notice that in some cases, the augmentative word changes gender, often from feminine to masculine. For example, the feminine words “película,” “silla,” and “rata,” have the augmentatives: “peliculón,” “sillón,” and “ratón,” respectively, which are all masculine.
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. The three words are 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. For example, 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 which you must be learn by practice. For example, “grandullón” (overgrown) and “favorzote” (huge favor), are augmentatives of “grande” (big) and “favor” (favor), respectively.
List of Diminutives and Augmentatives in Spanish
The following are two useful lists of diminutives and augmentatives in Spanish:
1. Diminutives
| Spanish Word | Meaning in English | Diminutive in Spanish | Meaning in English |
| abajo | below | abajito | little below |
| abuelo/-a | grandfather/-mother | abuelito/-a | grandpa/-ma |
| ahora | now | ahorita | right now |
| amigom | friend | amiguitom | little friend |
| amorm | love | amorcitom | sweetie |
| árbolm | tree | arbolitom | little tree |
| aviónm | plane | avioncitom | little plane |
| barbaf | beard | barbillaf | chin |
| bolso m | bag | bolsillom | pouch or pocket |
| cafém | coffee | cafecitom | little coffee |
| callef | street | callecitaf | little street |
| camiónm | truck | camioncitom | little truck |
| casaf | house | casitaf | small house |
| cerca | close | cerquita | pretty close |
| chicaf | small | chiquitaf | little boy |
| chicom | small | chiquitom | tiny |
| cochem | car | cochecitom | baby stroller |
| favorm | favor | favorcitom | little favor |
| florf | flower | florecitaf florcitaf | small flower |
| fuentef | fountain | fuentecitaf | small fountain |
| gordom | fat | gorditom | chubby |
| hermano/-a | brother/sister | hermanito/-a | little brother/sister |
| hijo/-a | son/daughter | hijito/-a | little son/daughter |
| jovenm,f | young | jovencito/-a | youngster |
| juegom | game | juguetem | toy |
| lagom | lake | laguitom | small lake |
| lápizm | pencil | lapicitom | small pencil |
| leónm | lion | leoncitom | little lion |
| luzf | light | lucecitaf | little light |
| mamáf | mom | mamitaf | mommy |
| manof | hand | manitaf | little hand |
| mantecaf | lard | mantequillaf | butter |
| mañanaf | morning | mañanitaf | early morning |
| mesaf | table | mesitaf | small table |
| momentom | moment | momentitom | little moment |
| niño/-a | child | niñito/-a | little child |
| nuevom | new | nuevecitom | brand-new |
| pájarom | bird | pajaritom | small bird |
| panm | bread | pancitom | bread roll |
| papám | dad | papitom | daddy |
| pastelm | cake | pastelitom | small cake |
| patínm | skate | patinetem | scooter |
| patom | duck | patitom | duckling |
| pedazom | piece | pedacitom | small piece |
| perrom | dog | perritom | little dog |
| pezm | fish | pececitom | small fish |
| pobrem,f | poor | pobrecitom | poor thing |
| pocom | little | poquitom | very little |
| pollom | chicken | pollitom | chick |
| puñalm | dagger | puñalitom | small dagger |
| ratom | while | ratitom | little while |
| relojm | clock | relojitom | small clock |
| rincónm | corner | rinconcitom | little corner |
| segundom | second | segunditom | little second |
| sillaf | chair | sillitaf | little chair |
| solm | sun | solecitom | little sun |
| solo/-a | alone | solito/-a | all alone |
| suavem,f | soft | suavecito/-a | very soft |
| tragom | sip | traguitom | little sip |
| tortaf | cake | tortillaf | tortilla |
| Veneciaf | Venice | Venezuelaf | Little Venice |
| verdem,f | green | verdecito/-a | greenish |
| volcánm | volcano | volcancitom | little volcano |
| zapatom | shoe | zapatitom | little shoe |
2. Augmentatives
| Spanish Word | Meaning in English | Augmentative in Spanish | Meaning in English |
| abrazom | hug | abrazotem | big hug |
| amigom | friend | amigote/-a | crony or pal |
| animalm | animal | animalotem | big or nasty animal |
| barrigaf | belly | barrigón/-ona barrigudo/-a | paunchy or potbellied |
| bofetadaf | slap | bofetónm | big slap |
| buenom | good | buenazom | good-natured |
| cabezaf | head | cabezazom | header (sports) headbutt |
| cabezón/-ona cabezote/-a cabezudo/-a | big-headed stubborn | ||
| cachetem | cheek | cachetón/-ona | plump-cheeked |
| cajaf | box | cajónm | drawer |
| casaf | house | casonaf | big house |
| cinturaf | waist | cinturónm | belt |
| cochem | car | cochazom | amazing car |
| codom | elbow | codazom | elbow jab |
| cuerdaf | rope or string | cordónm | shoelace |
| éxitom | success | exitazom | great success |
| favorm | favor | favorzotem | huge favor |
| fiestaf | party | fiestotaf | big party |
| fotof | photo | fotazaf | great photo |
| fuertem,f | strong | fortachón/-ona | beefy |
| grandem,f | big | grandote/-a grandullón/-ona | overgrown big guy/girl |
| hombrem | man | hombrónm | big or strong man |
| hotelm | hotel | hotelazom | big or fancy hotel |
| martillom | hammer | martillazom | hammer blow |
| misilm | missile | misilazom | missile strike |
| papelm | paper | papelotem | worthless paper |
| películaf | movie | peliculónm | blockbuster |
| perrom | dog | perrotem perrazom | big or mean dog |
| puertaf | door | portazom | door slam |
| rataf | rat | ratónm | mouse |
| sillaf | chair | sillónm | armchair |
| solterom | single | solterónm | old bachelor |
Next: Use of “Vos” in Some Spanish-Speaking Countries
More lessons in Level VI:
Level VI – Fluent
2. “Should/Could/Would Have …”
3. Pluperfect Indicative Tense
4. Pluperfect Subjunctive Tense
5. Use of “Aunque,” “Si Bien,” and “A Pesar de”
7. Reflexive Passive, Impersonal, & Accidental “Se”
8. Diminutives & Augmentatives
