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In Spanish, instead of adding the adjective pequeño (= small or little), we can use the diminutive suffix -ito, -ita, -itos or -itas. The suffix not only indicates a diminutive size, but in some cases, it can add a nuance of affection, or soften the meaning of the actual word.
With words ending in -o, -a, -io and -ia, the rule is to remove these endings and replace with the suffix.
With nouns and adjectives the suffix needs agreement in gender and number.
Have a look:
| Masc sing | Fem sing | Masc pl | Fem pl |
| -ito | -ita | -itos | -itas |
Read and listen to these examples:
Los libritos de vocabulario eran muy útiles.The little vocabulary books were very useful. [libros → libritos]
- Adverbs ending in -o take the -ito suffix.
- Adverbs ending in -a take the -ita suffix.
Have a look and listen to these examples:
In the second and fourth examples, the words slowly (despacio) and outside (afuera) are softened and used affectionately with the addition of the suffix (despacito - afuerita).
Sometimes adding the suffix to the word requires a spelling change to maintain the original sound of the word, or to apply orthographic rules, as with words ending in -co, -go or -zo.
Have a look and listen to these examples:
- poco = a bit
- abrigo = coat
- trozo = a piece
We change from trozo to trocito because in Spanish we use the letter z only followed by a, o and u, but not with e or i.
See also Diminutivo.
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