An augmentative (for the “big” version of a word) is the opposite of a diminutive (for the “small” version of a word).
Brazilian Portuguese Articles
Augmentatives: What are they and how to form them in Brazilian Portuguese?
By: Ana Amélia Rodrigues dos Santos Thu Dec 12 2024
An augmentative is a special form of a word that is mostly used to indicate that something is especially large or imposing or that it has a significant or large amount of a quality. In Brazilian Portuguese, augmentatives are most often formed by adding -(z)ão or -(z)ona to the end of a nounNo definition set for nounLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. or an adjectiveNo definition set for adjectiveLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. For example:
grande
big
⇛
grandão / grandona
very big
Tip
A few other endings, like -aço, or words, like muito(very), can also be used to create the same effect, as in:
calor
warm
⇛
caloraço calor / muito calor
very warm
If you are curious to know more about the form and uses of augmentatives in Brazilian Portuguese, this post is perfect for you.
Table of Contents
How to form augmentatives in Brazilian Portuguese?
Augmentatives in Brazilian Portuguese are most often created through the addition of a suffix to nounsNo definition set for nounsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. and adjectivesNo definition set for adjectivesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. The most common augmentative endings in Brazilian Portuguese are -ão and -ona, as in:
Noun:
livro
book
⇛
livrão
big book
casa
house
⇛
casona
big house
Adjective:
pé
foot
⇛
pezão
big foot
Below, we will talk more about each of these endings and their uses.
Important
Although they are not very common, adverbsNo definition set for adverbsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. and verbsNo definition set for verbsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. can have augmentative forms as well:
Augmentative adverbs: These are often used in informal everyday language. Because adverbs don’t vary in gender or number, augmentative adverbs are always formed using -ão, as in:
Roberta veio rapidão para o almoço.
Roberta came very fast for lunch.
Augmentative verbs: When in the augmentative form, verbs become adjectives. Because adjectives in Brazilian Portuguese vary in gender and number, these augmentative verbs will end with -ão / -ona in the singular or with the plural -ões / -onas, depending on the gender and number of the noun that’s being described.
Ele é mandão. ⇒ Eles são mandões.
He is bossy. ⇒ They are bossy
Ela é mandona. ⇒ Elas são mandonas.
She is bossy. ⇒ They are bossy.
If you want a refresher on gender and plurals in Brazilian Portuguese take a look at these posts.
When to use ‘-ão’ and ‘-ona’ to make augmentatives?
The endings -ão and -ona are the most common suffixes to make augmentatives in Brazilian Portuguese. The suffix -ão is used to form the augmentative of masculine words, whereas -ona forms the augmentative of feminine words, as in:
Ele é um menino grandão.
He is a big boy.
Ela é uma menina grandona.
She is a big girl.
These suffixes are connected to words ending with unstressedNo definition set for unstressedLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. vowels. In these cases, drop the last unstressed vowel before adding the endings:
masculine noun:
o carro[KAro](the car) ⇒ carr + ão ⇒ o carrão
feminine noun:
a casa[KAza](the house) ⇒ cas + ona ⇒ a casona
When a word does not end with an unstressed vowel, it is necessary to use the linking sound z before adding the augmentative -ão or -ona. Below you will see how this works.
Important
In everyday language, it is very common to make augmentatives using -ão (which are traditionally masculine in gender) with nouns ending with unstressed vowels, even when the noun is originally feminine. In these cases, the resulting augmentative is masculine. For example:
femininemasculine
a mesa ⇒ o mesão
the table ⇒ the big table
a bicicleta ⇒ o bicicletão
the bicycle ⇒ the big bicycle
But for these nouns, it is also possible to maintain the feminine gender by making the augmentative with instead:
feminine
a mesa ⇒ a mesona
the table ⇒ the big table
a bicicleta ⇒ a bicicletona
the bicycle ⇒ the big bicycle
When to use ‘-zão’ and ‘-zona’ to make augmentatives?
In Brazilian Portuguese, we use the suffixes -zão and -zona, to make masculine and feminine augmentatives, respectively. They are connected to words ending in:
Consonants:
papel(paper) ⇒ papelzão(big paper)
Important
You can use -ão or -ona to form the augmentative of feminine nouns ending in r, as in:
femininemasculinea colher ⇒ o colherão / a colherona
a spoon ⇒ a big spoon
a mulher ⇒ o mulherão / a mulherona
a woman ⇒ a big woman
However, it is also possible to make the augmentative of these nouns with the suffixes -zão and -zona, as would be expected. However, the forms that use z are very informal and are only used in spoken language:
femininemasculinea colher ⇒ o colherzão / a colherzona
a mulher ⇒ o mulherzão / a mulherzona
Nasal sounds: (e.g. m / n)
marrom(brown) ⇒ marronzão / marronzona(very brown)
Important
To make the augmentative of nouns or adjectives ending with -m, you must change the -m into -n before adding -zão or -zona.
bom(good) ⇒ bonzona(very good)
StressedNo definition set for StressedLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. vowels:
café(coffee) ⇒ cafezão(big coffee)
Important
Notice in the example above that stressed vowels, such as -é from café, drop the written accent to form the augmentative by adding -zão. This also occurs with:
sofá(sofa) ⇒ sofazão(big sofa)
crochê(crochet) ⇒ crochezão(big crochet)
Diphthongs:
pai(father) ⇒ paizão(big father)
mãe(mother) ⇒ mãezona(big mother)
Exception!
The masculine noun chapéu(hat), which ends with the diphthong -éu, can form the argumentative through the addition of -zão, as in:
chapéu(hat) ⇒ chapeuzão(big hat)
Notice, though, that the word loses its written accent in order to form the augmentative.
This particular word can also form the augmentative with -ão by adding the use of the linking sound -l.
chapéu(hat) ⇒ chapelão(big hat)
This happens because the u in the diphthong éu transforms into the l sound to form the new syllable -lão.
There are not many other words in Brazilian Portuguese that end with -éu, but these other words only make the augmentative with -zão (losing their written accent):
céu(sky) ⇒ ceuzão(big sky)
troféu(trophy) ⇒ trofeuzão(big trophy)
Not all words that end in -ão are augmentatives, such as limão(lemon) and vulcão(volcano). For that reason, you can find here a list of words that end in -ão, but are not augmentatives.
What are the other augmentative suffixes in Brazilian Portuguese?
Most words in Brazilian Portuguese have more than one augmentative form. This means that in addition to -(z)ão and -(z)ona, sometimes augmentatives can also be made using other suffixesNo definition set for suffixesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., like -alhão, -(z)arrão, -eirão, -aça, -aço, -ázio, -uça. These other endings tend to be more colloquial or informal. Let’s take a look at some of them.
-aça, -aço, -uça, and -ázio are suffixes often added to nouns, and more rarely to adjectives, to form augmentatives.
amigo(friend) ⇒ amigaço(big friend)
-arra and -orra are suffixes added to nouns.
boca(mouth) ⇒ bocarra(big mouth)
Both of the words amigo(male friend) and boca(mouth) also have more traditional augmentative forms, made with the suffixes -ão and -ona (amigão, and bocão/bocona). These less traditional forms (amigaço, and bocarra), are more often used in everyday written or spoken language.
Take a look at this longer list of the suffixes used to make augmentatives in Brazilian Portuguese, or this list of words that have more than one form for the augmentative to learn more!
How to make masculine and feminine augmentatives?
Let’s now talk about the gender of augmentatives. Based on what we have already seen, the gender of an augmentative depends on the type of word that the augmentative ending is attaching to. Let’s review how to decide the gender of augmentatives for nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs.
Nouns:
In general, augmentative nouns take either the masculine ending -(z)ão or the feminine ending -(z)ona.
femininemasculineo garoto ⇒ o garotão
the boy ⇒ the big boy
a garota ⇒ a garotona
the girl ⇒ the big girl
However, as discussed above, feminine nouns can take either -(z)ão or -(z)ona, as in:
femininemasculinea mesa ⇒ o mesão / a mesona
He is bossy. ⇒ They are bossy
Adjectives:
Augmentative adjectives end with -(z)ão or -(z)ona depending on the gender of the noun they agree with.
Unlike augmentative nouns, augmentative adjectives must agree in gender with the noun, so only one of the augmentative endings can be used appropriately in context, for example:
femininemasculinesolteiro ⇒ solteirão
single → bachelor (said of a man)
solteira ⇒ solteirona
single → spinster (said of a woman)
Adverbs:
Adverbs are invariable words, meaning they don’t have a masculine nor a feminine form. For this reason, adverbs most often take the masculine ending -(z)ão in augmentative forms.
Carolina chegou rapidão ao aeroporto.
Carolina arrived very quickly at the airport.
In this example, the augmentative rapidão is an adverb, adding meaning to the verb, but it does not express a gender, so the masculine ending -(z)ão is used by default.
Verbs:
In everyday spoken language, the augmentatives of verbs often function as adjectives. For this reason, they must agree in gender with the word they refer to, as in:
Meu cachorro é um fujão. / Minha cachorra é uma fujona.
My male dog is a runaway. / My female dog is a runaway.
In the examples above, the verb fugir(to run away) becomes the adjectives fujão and fujona, therefore adding meanings to their respective subjects, meu cachorro/minha cachorra(my male dog/my female dog) . In this context, they must agree on gender with their subject.
How to make the plural of augmentatives?
The plural of augmentatives ending in -(z)ão and (z)ona is -(z)ões and (z)onas, as in:
casão(big house) ⇒ casões(big houses)
How to make augmentatives without suffixes?
We have talked in this post about how to form augmentatives using a suffix. However, you can also use adverbs or adjectives to add augmentative meaning to a word.
Place adverbs, such as muito(very), ultra(ultra), and mega(mega), before nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.
casa(big house) ⇒ mega casa(mega house)
grande(big) ⇒ muito grande(very big)
rapido(very fast) ⇒ ultra rápido(ultra fast)
You can also place the adjectives grande(big), imenso(immense), gigantesco(gigantic), and enorme(huge) after nouns.
casa(big house) ⇒ casa grande(bigger house)
Check out our post on the placement of adjectives in Brazilian Portuguese to learn more!
When to use augmentatives in Brazilian Portuguese?
In Brazilian Portuguese, we most often use the augmentative form of a word to indicate that something or someone is large.
O meu sapato é esse grandão aí no canto.
My shoe is the big one in the corner.
However, depending on the context, augmentatives can convey other meanings as well. These meanings can include:
The augmentative implies admiration for the augmented word.
Vi um filmaço ontem na TV.
I saw a great movie yesterday on TV.
The quality assigned to a noun is extreme, but the noun is normal-sized.
Ela está cansadaça depois da longa viagem.
She is very tired after the long trip.
An augmentative is a more pejorative (insulting) version of the base word.
Não consegui ver o show ontem porque tinha um cabeção na minha frente.
I couldn't watch the show yesterday because there was a big head in front of me.
Different augmentative endings can lend themselves more to one meaning or another. Let’s now talk about each of these common uses of the augmentative.
How to use augmentatives for size?
In addition to -(z)ão and -(z)ona, the suffix -éu and -alhão are often used to indicate that something or someone is physically large.
Que fogaréu é aquele ali?
What a huge fire is that over there?
In this example, the augmentative of the word fogo(fire) is fogaréu(huge, intense fire), and it is used to refer to the huge size of the fire.
How to use augmentatives for admiration and affection?
You can use the augmentative endings -(z)ão and -(z)ona to show admiration for something, as in:
Nossa, olha que casão!
Wow, look at that house!
Esse bolo ficou bonitão depois de pronto.
This cake was beautiful after it was ready.
In the examples above, the augmentative isn’t used to show size, but to show what I think is positive about the house and the cake. This meaning is mostly conveyed out of the context and through the intonation in which it is given.
How to use augmentatives for extreme qualities?
The augmentative endings -(z)ão and -(z)ona, as well as -alhão, can be used to indicate that a quality is extreme:
Tenho que acordar cedão amanhã.
I have to wake up very early tomorrow.
Que barulhão foi esse?
What a huge noise was that?
In this case, the use of the augmentative provides the idea of having to wake up very or really early and of the noise being really loud.
How to use augmentatives with a pejorative meaning?
Augmentatives can also be used to give an unpleasant or uncomplimentary opinion about something or someone.
Paulo acha que é muito sabidão.
Paulo thinks that he is really smart. (implied: …but he is not)
Nowadays, the pejorative meaning of sabidão is already crystallized in the Brazilian Portuguese language. However, if you want to use the word sabido(wise)in the augmentative form in a complimentary way, you must make a slightly different augmentative, which is sabichão.
Tip
The suffix -astro, which is used in a few words in Brazilian Portuguese, has the most salient pejorative value.
Jorge é um medicastro.
Jorge is a really bad doctor.
Other endings, as mentioned earlier, such as aça, -aço, -uça, -ázio , and -anzil, also tend to form words with a depreciatory meaning, as in: corpo(body) = corpanzil(big or exaggerated body). What is curious here is that to give this word a positive augmentative meaning, Brazilians would say corpaço, with the ending -aço. This means that different endings can have different connotations, and that there are no endings that always infer a positive or a negative meanings.
This is perhaps the most difficult use of augmentative in Brazilian Portuguese, since its meaning is not clear without the context.
Summary
In this post, we talked about the form and use of the augmentative in Brazilian Portuguese. We saw that:
Augmentatives are special forms of words that we use to show that something is large or that something has a lot of a quality. They are the opposite of diminutives.
The most common augmentative is formed by adding the endings -(z)ão or -(z)ona to nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs, as in quentão(very hot).
Feminine nouns can also take either -(z)ão (the masculine augmentative) or -(z)ona (the feminine augmentative), as in a faca(the knife) = o facão, a facona
Augmentative adjectives always need to agree with the noun they describe, as in o carro grandão(the big car), a casa grandona(the big house).
Because adverbs are invariable words, they usually take the augmentitive ending -(z)ão, as in: Marta chegou cedão(Marta arrived very early).
The augmentative forms of verbs function as adjectives, and for that reason, agree in gender and number with the noun they describe:
Ela reclama muito = Ela é uma reclamona
She complains a lot = She is a complainer
It is possible to form the augmentative with other suffixes, such as -aça, -aço, -uça, and -ázio, as in golaço(great goal) .
Now you can practice how to form and use the augmentative with this activity.
