Why does árbol become arbolillo, but corazón becomes corazoncillo? They both end in consonants.
The explanation above says both that "If the original noun ends in a consonant, it usually keeps the last letter (árbol → arbol-illo)", but also that "when the noun ends in a consonant...we tend to keep the whole word and add -cillo, -cilla, -cillos, -cillas".
So why isn't it arbolcillo?
Thanks!
Hola Chris
The rule about applying a suffix or another is not very strict with diminutives, especially with consonants. There is a tendency though to use the suffix -cillo with nouns that end in -n, like corazón -corazoncillo and there is also a tendency to use -illo with nouns that end in -l, like árbol- arbolillo.
I just added a note about this in the lesson. I hope that helps.
Saludos
Inma
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