Every person who is just starting to learn Portuguese is glad that he can say at least something. Soon, he begins to understand that his speech is very primitive, formal, but he wants to make it more natural. This naturalness of speech is given by many details. We will dedicate today’s article to one of them.
In order to describe something or someone, it is not necessary to use the appropriate adjectives. Often you can add the desired suffix and size, the beauty, texture of the thing, the character and attitude to the object become clear.
Suffix “-(z)inho”
This is the most popular suffix that the Portuguese can add to any word. Sometimes such words are even impossible to translate. For example: obrigado (thank you) – obrigadinho; adeus (goodbye) – adeuzinho, agora (now) – agorinha.
One can only imagine what these words are, feel them, but cannot be translated.
Such words simply do not exist in any language of the world. One thing can be said – this suffix understates what they are talking about.
Note that the suffix is declined for gender and number in the same way that nouns and adjectives are conjugated: -(z)inhos, -(z)inhas.
Use cases of diminutive suffixes
First, it’s logical to assume that understatement occurs in the size of the object:
Comprei uma caixinha de chocolates. (I bought a boxlet of chocolate.)
Secondly, in this way we can show affection towards objects, including a person:
Adoro o meu gatinho! (Love my catling!)
In this case, “gatinho” is not a baby cat, but an affectionate name for one’s favorite adult animal. To affectionately address a person, we add a suffix to his name.
A Leninha é uma mulher linda e inteligente. (Lena is a beautiful and smart woman.)
O Andrezinho deu-me uma prenda muito cara. (André gave me a very expensive present.)
Thirdly, using this technique, on the contrary, you can respond to something with disdain. Here, the intonation and tone of voice with which we pronounce the phrase will play an important role. Moreover, the meaning can be understood from the context:
Este homenzinho não serve para nada. (This guy is good for nothing.)
Fourth, using diminutive forms of words, we can show politeness:
Queria um pedacinho, por favor. (I’d like a slice, please.)
Other diminutive suffixes
In addition to the most popular suffix “-(z)inho”, there are several more rare suffixes. The suffix you’ve definitely seen is “-ote(a)“.
Eu pus o teu dinheiro num caixote. (I put your money in a box.)
Variants of other suffixes are as follows:
“-acho”: rio (river) – riacho
“-ejo”: lugar (place) – lugarejo
“-ebre”: casa (house) – casebre
“-isco”: chuva (rain) – chuvisco
Now, having this information, try not to confuse nouns that have nothing to do with this form. They just have a very similar root. For example, anedota (anecdote), queijo (cheese), lebre (hare), risco (risk).
Suffix “-(z)ão”
We have already met such a suffix when we created feminine nouns from verbs, replacing the end of the verb with the suffix “-ão“. For example, discutir (to argue) – discussão (dispute). Now we add the same suffix to the noun and get its exaggerated form, but only masculine.
It is important to note that if the noun ends with the letter “-o“, then there is no need to add the letter “z“, for example: livro (book) – livrão (large book). If the noun ends with any other letter, then the letter “z” is required: homem (man) – homenzão (large man). This also includes words with the ending “-ão“, namely: cão (dog) – cãozão (big dog).
Use cases of augmenative suffixes
First, it is obvious that in this way we can increase the size of the object we are talking about:
Ontem nós organizámos um churrascão! (Yesterday we had a mega barbecue!)
Secondly, we can express our attitude to an object or person using not only a diminutive suffix, but also an augmentative suffix:
Olá, amigão! Como estás? (Hey buddy! How are you?)
A minha namorada é uma lindona e tu és um bonitão! (My girlfriend is very beautiful and you are handsome!)
Thirdly, you can adjust the meaning of words. Sometimes the suffix “-ão” is added to feminine nouns, though very rarely. In this case, the nature of the word changes: palavra (word) – palavrão (rough word), prancha (board) – pranchão (long board). There are very few such words, so there is no need to focus on this.
Do not confuse words with an exaggerated meaning with similar, independent words. For example, there is the word “cidade” (city). If we add “-ão” to it, we get a completely different noun – cidadão (citizen). And also, there are words like “mão” (hand), alemão (German), irmão (brother) and so on. They also have nothing to do with today’s topic.
Conclusion
By and large, there is nothing superfluous in any language. Any rule is a certain need for more complete communication. It’s just that there are topics that you can not use at all, but others can use them. It would be nice in this case to at least understand them.
Of course, in Portuguese it is quite possible to do without such details. However, there are students who do not feel complete unless they look at all the topics of grammar. If you are one of them, then this article was very useful to you!