What do “piglet,” “doggy,” and “minibus” have in common? 🐷 🐶 🚌
They are all examples of diminutives — words that are modified to make something sound smaller, cuter, or more affectionate. In English, this usually involves adding a suffix (like -let or -y) or a prefix (like mini-).
As you may or may not be aware, Portuguese has diminutives, too. You can modify just about any word to express the idea of tiny, little, or dear.
The most common suffixes are –inho/-zinho (masculine) and -inha/-zinha (feminine).
For example:
- casa (house) → casinha (little house, cozy cottage) — Vivo numa casinha à beira-marI live in a little house by the sea
- cão (dog) → cãozinho (puppy/dear dog) — Quero um cãozinhoI want a puppy
- café (coffee) → cafezinho (a small coffee, often with a cozy vibe) — Vamos tomar um cafezinho?Shall we have a little coffee?
Diminutives aren’t just about physical smallness. They can also be used to show:
- Affection — When something is extra cute, you can call it fofinho. Or to show affection for your son or your daughter, you might refer to them as filhinho or filhinha.
- Politeness — Um momentinho, por favorJust a little moment, please sounds much softer than “um momento.”
- Informality and coziness — Having a cervejinha (little beer) with friends sounds more casual and friendly than just having a cerveja.
You’ll even hear Portuguese speakers stack diminutives, such as pequeno (small/little) → pequenino (smaller/tiny) → pequenininho (really tiny/itty-bitty). You might hear a Portuguese grandmother using pequenininho to describe her newest grandchild 🙂
However, not every word with endings like -inho/a is a diminutive. Some words like galinha (chicken) or vinho (wine) just happen to end that way.
So next time you’re in a pastelaria, order a cafezinho instead of a café. You can also start calling your partner amorzinho (little love), or describe your afternoon snack as a lanchinho (little afternoon snack).
Have fun with these! And if you’re interested in learning more about diminutives, check out our Learning Note all about them.