Diminutivo

Spanish Diminutive

A diminutive is a word that has been modified in some way to convey a slight change to its basic meaning, either the smallness of something, or a sense of intimacy, affection, or endearment. 

In Spanish, endings known as sufijos diminutivos are added to words to make them diminutive.

How to form the diminutive? Look at these examples:

la chica (girl)la chiquita (little girl, young girl)

la casa (house)la casita (small house)

el gato (cat) → el gatito (kitten)

el libro (book) → el librito (booklet)

Pedro (Peter)Pedrito (Pete)

Juana (Jean) → Juanita (Jeannie)

The most common Spanish diminutive suffix  is -ito, -ita, usually just added to the root word.

Sometimes words are made diminutive with the endings -illo, -ico or -ín, and usually these diminutives are used depending on the regional area.

el pájaro (bird) → pajarillo (little bird)

el niño (child) → el niñín (little child)

la fiesta (party) → la fiestica (small party)

Clever stuff happening!