bolso bag bolsillo pocket
pollo chicken polluelo chick
There are exceptions, e.g. mano ‘hand’ gives both manita and manecita.
The forms -cito, -cilloand -zueloare used if the base word has more than
one syllable and ends in -n, -r, or -e:
ladrón thief ladronzuelo petty thief
autor author autorcillo small-time author
peine comb peinecillo fine comb
Note that señor ‘gentleman’ (diminutive: señorito) does not follow this
pattern.
The forms-ecito, -ecilloand -ezueloare added: (i) after removing the final
vowel -oor -afrom two-syllable words whose first syllable is ieor ue, or
(ii) to single-syllable words ending in a consonant or y:
nuevo/a new nuevecito/a nice and new
vieja old lady viejecita little old lady
piedra stone piedrecita little stone/pebble
flor flower florecita nice flower
rey king reyezuelo petty king
Rarely, after removing the final vowel, the forms -ececito, -ececilloand- ecezueloare added to single-syllable words ending in a vowel: pie‘foot’ >
piececito‘tiny foot’.
Of all diminutives the several forms of -itoare by far the most frequent
and varied in their use. They are much used by children and when speaking
to them. In the conversation of adults they express a tone of friendliness
and on occasions of affection.
With nouns they can signify ‘little’, but often convey the idea of ‘pretty’,
‘nice’, or ‘dear’, with or without the notion of smallness:
abuela grandmother abuelita granny/grandma
nieto grandson nietecito little grandson
cerveza beer una cervecita a nice cold beer
bien fría
The -itoforms can be attached to first names (Ana> Anita), and to other
words such as adjectives, adverbs, adverbial expressions, and even past
participles, sometimes with the sense of ‘nice’, or ‘quite’:
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2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1011
1
12111
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
20111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
30111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
40
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