# Diminutives and Augmentatives: -ito, -illo, -ón

https://langs123.com/en/spanish/sustantivo-determinantes/sufijos-apreciativos/
CEFR B2–C1 · 2026-10-19 · CC BY 4.0, langs123 contributors (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

> The diminutives -ito and -illo and the augmentatives -ón, -ote and -azo give a word size, affection or contempt: casita, grandón. The diminutive replaces the final vowel with -ito, and after -e, -n or -r it adds -cito: casa → casita, joven → jovencito

## Cheatsheet

| Point | Rule | Example | English |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Diminutive | replaces the final vowel with -ito or -illo | casa → casita / pájaro → pajarillo | little house / little bird |
| -cito, -ecito | -cito after -e, -n, -r; -ecito after a monosyllable | joven → jovencito / pan → panecito | young lad / bread roll |
| Spelling | c → qu / g → gu / z → c | poco → poquito / amigo → amiguito / lápiz → lapicito | a tiny bit / little friend / little pencil |
| Augmentative | -ón, -ote and -azo replace the final vowel | grande → grandote / golpe → golpazo | hefty / heavy blow |
| Agreement | an adjective with a suffix agrees with its noun; adjectives in -a do not change | una chica grandona / una mujer hipócrita | a big girl / a hypocritical woman |
| Meanings | size, affection, softening and contempt | Espera un momentito. / Mi abuelito cocina muy bien. | Wait just a moment. / My granddad cooks very well. |
| Intensifying | the diminutive strengthens the adjective and the adverb | No te imaginas lo contentita que se puso. | You can’t imagine how happy she became. |
| Adverbs and gerunds | -ito also applies to adverbs, gerunds and proper names | ahora → ahorita / callando → callandito | right now / quietly |
| Contemptuous forms | -ucho, -ajo and -ote give a contemptuous sense | una casucha / un latinajo | a shack / a scrap of Latin |
| Trap | sillón is masculine although it comes from silla | Me siento en el sillón de la sala. | I sit down in the armchair in the living room. |
| Trap | c becomes qu in adverbs too | Vivo cerquita de aquí. | I live very close to here. |

## Overview

- An evaluative suffix is added to the stem and gives the word size, affection or contempt: un perrito / un perrazo — a little dog / a big dog
- A word with a suffix forms its plural like any other: see Plurals.
- The suffix -ísimo, which forms the superlative, is explained in Comparatives and Superlatives.

## Form: diminutives and augmentatives

| Suffix | Formation | Examples | English |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| -ito / -ita | replace the final vowel; after another consonant they are added to the word | casa → casita / libro → librito / papel → papelito | little house / little book / slip of paper |
| -illo / -illa | formed like -ito and -ita | pájaro → pajarillo / mesa → mesilla | little bird / small table |
| -cito / -cita | after -e, -n or -r they are added to the whole word | joven → jovencito / mujer → mujercita / coche → cochecito / madre → madrecita | young lad / little woman / little car / dear mother |
| -cillo / -cilla | follow the same rule as -cito | pobre → pobrecillo / joven → jovencillo | poor little thing / young whippersnapper |
| -ecito / -ecita | after a monosyllable they are added to the whole word | pan → panecito / flor → florecita | bread roll / little flower |
| -ón / -ona | make bigger; replace the final vowel | grande → grandón / casa → casona | big / large house |
| -ote / -ota | make bigger; replace the final vowel | grande → grandote / libro → librote | hefty / big book |
| -azo / -aza | make bigger; replace the final vowel | golpe → golpazo / mano → manaza | heavy blow / big hand |
| -ito en adverbios | replace the final vowel of the adverb | ahora → ahorita / cerca → cerquita | right now / very close |
| -ito en gerundios | replaces the final -o of the gerund | callando → callandito / corriendo → corriendito | quietly / running along |
| -ito en nombres propios | form an affectionate nickname | Ana → Anita / Manolo → Manolito | little Ana / little Manolo |

## Spelling: c, g and z before -ito

| Change | Examples | English |
| --- | --- | --- |
| c → qu | poco → poquito / chico → chiquillo | a tiny bit / little kid |
| g → gu | amigo → amiguito / largo → larguito | little friend / longish |
| z → c | lápiz → lapicito / taza → tacita | little pencil / little cup |

- The final consonant of the stem changes before e or i to keep its sound.

## Gender and agreement

| Adjective | Masculine | Feminine |
| --- | --- | --- |
| -ón / -ona | un chico grandón | una chica grandona |
| -ajo / -aja | un chico pequeñajo | una chica pequeñaja |
| adjective in -a | un hombre hipócrita / un acto homicida | una mujer hipócrita / una acción homicida |

- The suffix keeps the gender of the base noun: la casa → la casita / el libro → el librito — the little house / the little book
- With -ón, some feminine nouns become masculine: la silla → el sillón / la caja → el cajón — the armchair / the drawer
- The gender of nouns: see Gender; the agreement of the adjective: see Adjectives: Agreement and Position.

## Meanings

| Meaning | Example | English |
| --- | --- | --- |
| small size | Compraron una casita en la playa. | They bought a little house on the beach. |
| affection | Mi abuelito cocina muy bien. | My granddad cooks very well. |
| softening a request or bad news | ¿Puedes esperar un momentito? / Hay un problemita con el pedido. | Can you wait a moment? / There is a small problem with the order. |
| contempt or mockery | Ese pequeñajo se cree el jefe. | That little runt thinks he is the boss. |
| a word that no longer means “small” | cama → camilla / ventana → ventanilla / bolsa → bolsillo | stretcher / counter window / pocket |
| intensifying an adjective, an adverb or a quantity | No te imaginas lo contentita que se puso. / Prefiero el té bien calentito. / Ese reloj vale un dinerillo. | You can’t imagine how happy she became. / I prefer my tea nice and warm. / That watch is worth a fair bit of money. |
| a blow with the object named, or an outstanding example, with -azo | El pelotazo del delantero rompió el cristal. / ¡Qué golazo metió! | The striker’s hard kick of the ball broke the window. / What a great goal he scored! |
| irony: the form says the opposite of what it seems | ¡Vaya nochecita pasamos! / ¡Qué cochecito se compró! | What a fine night we had! / What a fine little car he bought himself! |
| contemptuous suffixes: -ucho, -ajo and -ote | Viven en una casucha. / Soltó un latinajo que nadie entendió. / Dijo una palabrota. | They live in a shack. / He came out with a scrap of Latin that nobody understood. / He said a swear word. |

## Varieties of Spanish

- Latin America: In Mexico, Central America and Colombia, -ito is very common in conversation: ¿Quieres un cafecito? — Fancy a coffee?
- Latin America: In the Caribbean, Costa Rica and Colombia -ico also appears, above all in words with t: Espera un momentico. / Es un niño chiquitico. — Wait a moment. / He is a tiny little boy.
- Spain: In Spain, -ito is the general suffix; -illo is heard in Andalusia and -ín in Asturias: Siéntate un ratillo. / Qué niño tan pequeñín. — Sit down for a little while. / What a tiny little boy.

## Typical errors

| ✗ | ✓ | Rule |
| --- | --- | --- |
| mi amigito | mi amiguito | g → gu before the i of the suffix |
| un chicito | un chiquito | c → qu before the i of the suffix |
| un lapizito | un lapicito | z → c before the i of the suffix |
| un jovenito | un jovencito | after -n, -cito is added |
| un golpaso | un golpazo | -azo is written with z |
| la sillón | el sillón | with -ón, silla becomes masculine |
| una mujer grandón | una mujer grandona | an adjective with a suffix agrees in gender |
| Vivo cercita de aquí. | Vivo cerquita de aquí. | c → qu before the i of the suffix, in adverbs too |