How To Master Spanish Diminutives In 10 Minutes

Spanish Diminutives are something that you will likely come across at the early stages of being a Spanish student.

The most common use of a diminutive is to talk about a smaller version of something or someone, but you will also hear it used to express affection, emotion or as a term of endearment – not to mention being used to express contempt and sarcasm.

As you can imagine, diminutives are used in many different contexts, be it with friends or somebody that you barely know.

Furthermore, they are not only used with adjectives but also nouns and names. The rules we’ll explain later in this article will be the same whether it be a noun, an adjective or a personal name.

Let’s see some examples before moving on:

Adjectives

Original word	English	Diminutive	English equivalent
Grande	Big	Grandecito	Biggish
Feo	Ugly	Feito	Uglyish

Nouns

Original word	English	Diminutive	English equivalent
Carro	Car	Carrito	Little car
Perro	Dog	Perrito	Little dog or doggy

Personal names

Original word	English	Diminutive	English equivalent
Carlos	Carlos	Carlito	Little Carlos
Andrea	Andrea	Andreita	Little Andrea
Abuela	Grandmother	Abuelita	Granny

When To Use Spanish Diminutives?

Spanish diminutives are words that when formed with suffixes, slightly modifies the meaning of an original word.

For example:

• Lugar (place) v Lugarcito (little place)

In the above example, the Spanish suffix (cito) slightly changes the meaning of the original word, but on its own, doesn’t mean anything.

Spanish diminutives are most commonly used to:

1) Reduce the size or importance of a word

• I love this little boy – Amo a este niñito

• I just have a little problem – Solo tengo un problemita

• Look how cute this little rabbit is – Mira que lindo es este conejito

2)  To express love or affection

• Hello my love – Hola mi amorcito 

• He is my sweet  grandpa – El es mi dulce abuelito  

• I wanna go to the beach – Quiero ir a la playita

3) To express a derogatory remark, depending on the context

• Tell the little boy to stay quite – Dile al niñito que se quede quieto

• So, the missy has some time now – Entonces la señorita ahora si tiene tiempo

How Are Spanish Diminutives Formed?

Now that you know what Spanish diminutives are, in the next section, we will cover exactly how to form them.

1) Spanish Diminutives That End In – ITO -ITA

a. If the word ends with O, or A

In this case, we drop the last vowel, and change it to -ito or -ita , depending if it is a feminine or a masculine word.

English Noun	Spanish noun	Spanish diminutive	English equivalent
School	Escuela	Escuelita	Little school
House	Casa	Casita	Little house
Cat	Gato – Gata	Gatito – Gatita	Kitten
Brother – Sister	Hermano – Hermana	Hermanito – Hermanita	Little brother/sister
Table	Mesa	Mesita	Small table
Salad	Ensalada	Ensaladita	Salad
Chicken	Pollo	Pollito	Little chicken
Phono	Teléfono	Telefonito	Tiny phone
Job	Trabajo	Trabajito	Job
Bed	Cama	Camita	Cot

Examples:

• These toys are from my little brother – Estos juguetes son de mi hermanito

• Put the baby in his cot – Pon al bebé en su camita

• I brought you a salad for your diet – Te traje una ensaladita para tu dieta

• Do you like these nightstands? – ¿Te gustan estas mesitas de noche?

b. If the word ends in a consonant, except for N and R

The word keeps the consonant (any other letter that is not a vowel like a,e,i,o,u) and you add the ending -ito or -ita

English Noun	Spanish noun	Spanish diminutive	English equivalent
Paper	Papel	Papelito	Piece of paper
Tablecloth	Mantel	Mantelito	Doily
Barrel	Barril	Barrilito	Little barrel
Tree	Árbol	Arbolito	Little tree
Poster	Cartel	Cartelito	Little sign
Easy	Fácil	Fácilito	Easy
Snail	Caracol	Caracolito	Little snail

Examples:

• Look how beautiful this little snail is – Mira que hermoso es este caracolito

• It is very easy to do this. I teach you – Es muy facilito hacer esto. Yo te enseño

• I wrote down the number on a piece of paper, and now I can not find it – Anoté el número en un papelito, y ahora no lo encuentro

2) Spanish Diminutives That End In -CITO or -CITA

a. Words ending in letter N, R, E, I, U or any accented vowel

This one is very simple – just add the endings -cito for masculine words and -cita for feminine words.

(notice that words which originally include an accent mark, do not include one when used as a diminutive)

English Noun	Spanish noun	Spanish diminutive	English equivalent
Coffee	Café	Cafecito	Coffee
Pants	Pantalón	Pantaloncito	Pants
Love	Amor	Amorcito	Sweetheart
Soft	suave	Suavecito	Softly
Young	Joven	Jovencito	Youngster
Heart	Corazón	Corazoncito	Little heart
Heat	Calor	Calorcito	Warm
Woman	Mujer	Mujercita	Little woman
Man	Hombre	Hombrecito	Little man
Baby	Bebé	Bebecito	Little baby
Violin	Violín	Violincito	Little violin

Examples:

• She is not a girl anymore. It’s all a little woman – Ella ya no es una niña. Es toda una mujercita

• Do you want some coffee? – ¿Quieres un cafecito?

• The concert was beautiful. The children had very small and cute violins – El concierto estuvo hermoso. Los niños tenían unos violincitos muy pequeños y tiernos

b. Words ending with Z

Drop the letter Z and add -cito or -cita

English Noun	Spanish noun	Spanish diminutive	English equivalent
Pencil	Lápiz	Lapicito	Little pencil
Worm	Lombriz	Lombricita	Worm
Nose	Nariz	Naricita	Little nose
Rice	Arroz	Arrocito	Rice

Examples:

• I love your little nose – Me encanta tu naricita

• For dinner I’ll just eat a little bit of rice – Para la cena solo comeré un poco de arrocito

• I need some worms for my compost – Necesito algunas lombricitas para mi compost

3) Spanish Diminutives That End In – ECITO or – ECITA

For all the words that have one syllable (pronounced with one sound), their diminutives will be formed with -ecito or -ecita

The same rule applies to words that end with two vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) together, such as io, ia, ie etc.

English Noun	Spanish noun	Spanish diminutive	English equivalent
Bread	Pan	Panecito	Little Bread
Feet	Pies	Piececitos	Little feet
Salt	Sal	Salecita	Salty
Tea	Té	Tecito	Little tea
Flower	Flor	Florecita	Little flower
Fish	Pez	Pececito	fishy
Light	Luz	Lucecita	Little Nightlight
Rain	Lluvia	Lluviecita	Drizzling
Voice	Voz	Vocecita	Little voice
Cross	Cruz	Crucecita	Little cross
Serious	Seria – Serio	Seriecita –  Seriecito	Little serious
Nuts	Nuez	Nuececita	Little nuts
Boyfriend – Girlfriend	Novio – Novia	Noviecito – Noviecita	Little boyfriend – Little girlfriend

Examples:

• Your little brother has a girlfriend in his classroom – Tu hermanito tiene una noviecita en su salón de clases

• There’s a little voice in my head telling me not to do it – Hay una vocecita en mi cabeza diciéndome que no lo haga

• It´s cold, let’s drink tea – Hace frío, vamos a tomar un tecito

• This little cross was given to me by my grandmother when I was born – Esta crucecita me la regaló mi abuela cuando nací

Spanish Diminutives: The Irregulars

As always, the Spanish language will throw us a couple of scenarios where we must deal with irregular words.

There are some Spanish diminutives which are formed differently and do not abide by the rules that we covered. These words are irregular in order to preserve the correct pronunciation when used with diminutives, as you will see.

1) Spanish Diminutives ending with G+vowel

When the word ends in -GA -GO -GUA, instead of just deleting the vowel and adding the ending -ito or -ita, we must also add the letter U after the G to smooth the transition and end with the correct pronunciation.

English Noun	Spanish noun	Spanish diminutive	English equivalent
Friend	Amigo – Amiga	Amiguito – Amiguita	Little friend
Water	Agua	Agüita	Little bit of water
Mango	Mango	Manguito	Little bit of mango
Juice	Jugo	Juguito	Little bit of juice

Sidenote: The word “agüita” is using an accent called “diéresis” better known in other languages as “umlaut” which indicates that the letter of that word must be pronounced in a different way. This accent mark can be found in many different words in the Spanish language.

Examples:

• Why do not you invite all your little friends for a sleepover? – ¿Por qué no invitas a todos tus amiguitos para una pijamada?

• Do you want some apple juice? – ¿Quieres juguito de manzana?

• Can you give me water, please? – ¿Me das agüita por favor?

2) Spanish Diminutives ending in CO or CA

To create a diminutive for words ending in -CO or -CA, we must add the letters -QU before the endings -ito or -ita.

English Noun	Spanish noun	Spanish diminutive	English equivalent
Ship	Barco	Barquito	Little boat
Fly	Mosca	Mosquita	Little fly
Hammock	Hamaca	Hamaquita	Little hammock
Kiosk, pavilion	Quiosco	Quiosquito	Little kiosk
Mouth	Boca	Boquita	Little mouth

Examples:

• It was not a little boat, it was a big boat – No era un barquito, era un gran barco

• I bought this little  hammock for my cat – Le compré esta hamaquita a mi gato

• There are many mosquitoes in the garden – Hay muchas mosquitas en el jardín

Other Scenarios Where Spanish Diminutives Can Be Used

We already covered the main uses of Spanish Diminutives.

Once you dive into the world of Spanish diminutives (and converse with native speakers), you’ll notice that endearment or sarcasm are not the only contexts when diminutives are used.

1) Using diminutives to talk about time

English Noun	Spanish noun	Spanish diminutive	English equivalent
Now	Ahora	Ahorita	Right now, later
Moment	Momento	Momentito	Little moment
Second	Segundo	Segundito	Little second
Little while	Rato	Ratito	Little while
Afternoon	Tarde	Tardecita	afternoonish
Night	Noche	Nochecita	nightish
Morning	Mañana	Mañanita	Early morning

Examples:

• Right now I can’t talk on the phone – Ahorita no puedo hablar por teléfono

• Just a second and I’ll be ready – Un segundito y estaré lista

• We went to the market early morning – Fuimos al mercado en la mañanita

2) Using diminutives with adjectives

English Noun	Spanish noun	Spanish diminutive	English equivalent
Fat	Gordo – Gorda	Gordito– Gordita	Chubby
Ugly	Feo – Fea	Feito – Feita	Uglyish
Short	Bajo – Baja	Bajito– Bajita	Shorty
Alone	Solo – Sola	Solito – Solita	Lonely
Little	Poco – Poca	Poquito – Poquita	Little bit
Thin	Flaco – Flaca	Flaquito – Flaquita	Skinny
New	Nuevo – Nueva	Nuevecito – Nuevecita	Newish

Examples:

• My shoes are brand new – Mis zapatos están nuevecitos

• My cat is chubby – Mi gato está gordito

• I turn on the radio, so I don’t  feel lonely – Yo enciendo la radio, para no sentirme solita

The use of diminutives varies by country, but in most cases, these are the most common forms. Either way, you will be safe, using the diminutives, whenever it is necessary to express affection, size.

Same word, different diminutives

As you converse with more and more native Spanish speakers, you may notice that some words have more than more diminutive and this varies across the Spanish speaking countries,

For example, endings -ito-ita can change to -ico -ica, also from -ecito – ecita to -cito -cita. In some places, native speakers use the ending -illo or -illa.

In cases like this, the meaning of the diminutive does not change – just the way it’s said.

I´ll show you some of the most common words in Spanish, and the different ways of saying them in diminutives.

English equivalent	Spanish Noun	-ITO – ITA	-CITO -CITA	-ECITO -ECITA	-ICO -ICA	– ILLO – ILLA
Mom	Mamá	Mamita	Mamacita		—	—
Dad	Papá	Papito	Papacito		—	—
Shoe	Zapato	Zapatito	—		Zapatico	Zapatillo
Little while	Rato	Ratito	—	—	Ratico	—
Moment	Momento	Momentito	—		Momentico	Momentillo
Bread	Pan	—	Pancito	Panecito	—	—
Fish	Pez	—	—	Pececito	—	Pececillo
Light	Luz	—	—	Lucecita	—	Lucecilla
Baby	Bebé	Bebito – Bebita	Bebecito – Bebecita
Duck	Pato	Patito	—	—	Patico	—
Smart / Ready	Listo	Listito	—	—	Listico	Listillo

Sidenote

In some cases, diminutives can add some kind of sexual context, for example, mamacita, papacito, bebecita and bebecito can be used as flirting material in some regions and countries. These words are considered a bit derogative among some Spanish native speakers.

Spanish Diminutives: Exercises

Write the correct diminutive for every word. Scroll down for answers.

1. Corn / Maíz: ______
2. Animal / Animal: _______
3. Fish / Pez: _______
4. Princess / Princesa: _______
5. Cup / Taza: _______
6. Watch / Reloj:_______
7. Shoe / Zapato: _______
8. Skirt / Falda: _______
9. Cake / Torta: _______
10. Cream / Crema: _______
11. Dessert / Postre: _______
12. Square / Plaza: _______

Answers

1. Maicito
2. Animalito
3. Pececito
4. Princesita
5. Tacita
6. Relojito
7. Zapatito
8. Faldita
9. Tortita
10. Cremita
11. Postrecito
12. Placita