árbol vs corazón

C. A.C1Kwiziq community member

árbol vs corazón

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!

Asked 4 years ago
InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

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

C. A. asked:View original

árbol vs corazón

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!

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