In Spanish we use the suffixes -illo, -cillo or -ecillo after a noun or adjective for two purposes: to qualify it as smaller (diminutive) or to talk about it in an affectionate way.
Suffix -illo, -illa, -illos, -illas
Notice how we modify the nouns:
árbol → arbolillo
chica → chiquilla (the -c- becomes -qu- for pronunciation purposes)
cuadro → cuadrillos
jarra → jarrillas
If the original noun ends in
- -o or -a, it loses the vowel when you add the diminutive suffix (cuadro → cuadr-illos; jarra → jarr-illas)
- a consonant, it usually keeps the last letter (árbol → arbol-illo)
Notice that the suffix matches the gender and number of the original noun: masculine or feminine, singular or plural.
Suffix -cillo, -cilla, -cillos, -cillas
When the noun ends in a consonant or the vowel -e we tend to keep the whole word and add -cillo, -cilla, -cillos, -cillas.
As you can see, these suffixes are not always used when talking about something that is physically smaller, but to talk about something in a more affectionate way or to soften the meaning of the word:
¿Hacía mucho calor en Sevilla?
¿Hacía mucho calorcillo en Sevilla?
These sentences mean the same, but in the second one the speaker is softening the meaning of "heat".
With this other example from above:
La serie sobre los animales es fascinante.
La seriecilla sobre los animales es fascinante.
Here we are not talking about a TV series that is smaller or shorter, we are simply using the suffix -cilla meaning that is a "nice" series.
Suffix -ecillo, -ecilla, -ecillos, -ecillas
Monosyllabic words tend to use long suffixes instead.
For example:
Notice that if the word ends in -z, (e.g. pez = fish) the -z becomes a -c.
Sometimes with monosyllabic words we make this suffix even longer: -ececillo, -ececilla, -ececillos, -ececillas:
Note: be aware that some nouns take on a new meaning when used with these suffixes. For example, the word "panecillo" could mean "a small piece of bread" but it is also the word for "a bread roll".
Other examples with new meanings are:
- una camilla (a hospital bed, but also a small bed)
- una ventanilla (a counter or a ticket window -as found in a bank or train station- but also a small window)
Bear in mind that with diminutives there is no strict rule for when to use -illo or -cillo (or the other different suffixes) but there are some tendencies.
For example, we tend to use -illo with nouns ending in -l and we tend to use -cillo with nouns ending in -n, e.g. hotel/hotelillo, ángel/angelillo, papel/papelillo, camión/camioncillo, melón/meloncillo, corazón/corazoncillo.
For example, we tend to use -illo with nouns ending in -l and we tend to use -cillo with nouns ending in -n, e.g. hotel/hotelillo, ángel/angelillo, papel/papelillo, camión/camioncillo, melón/meloncillo, corazón/corazoncillo.
See also:
- Using the diminutive suffix -ito, -ita, -itos and -itas with words ending in -o/-a/-io/-ia
- Using the Spanish diminutive suffix -cito, -cita, -citos and -citas with words ending in -e, -n, and -r
- Diminutivo
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