Aumentativo

Spanish Augmentative

The augmentative is a word that has been modified in some way to convey a greater degree of its basic meaning: large size, greatness, or greater intensity of something. The opposite of an augmentative is a diminutive.

The augmentative in Spanish is formed by adding a suffix to a noun or an adjective. These suffixes can vary from region to region in Spain.

Here are some examples:

  • una casa (a house) una casota (a big house)
  • un hombre (a man)  un hombretón (a big man)
  • un coche (a car) un cochazo (a great car)
  • la niña es guapa (the girl is pretty)la niña es guapetona (the girl is very pretty)
  • estos niños son buenos (these boys are good)estos niños son buenísimos (these boys are very good)

All suffixes have a masculine, feminine, singular and plural form that agrees with the word they are modifying.

 

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