A diminutive is a form of a word that conveys smallness or insignificance. In general, Brazilian Portuguese diminutives are formed by adding -inho / -inha or -zinho / -zinha to the end of a word, as in:
menina(girl) ⇒ menininha(small girl)
There are also some less formal diminutive endings, such as -acho (as in riacho(small river)) or -ete (as in palacete(small palace)).
The use of diminutives has become widespread in Brazilian Portuguese, and diminutive endings can be added 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., 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., and even 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.. They can be used for something that is literally small, but they can also be used less literally, for example, to convey emphasis or politeness, as in um pouquinho de café(a little bit of coffee).
If you are now curious to know how to form diminutives in Brazilian Portuguese and all of their uses, this post is perfect for you. Let’s get started!
How to form diminutives in Brazilian Portuguese?
In Brazilian Portuguese, you can often form a diminutive by adding the ending -inho or -inha to a word, such as:
filho(son) ⇒ filhinho(little son)
However, some words will require a spelling change in order to add this diminutive ending, while others will use the different diminutive endings -zinho and -zinha:
lago(lake) ⇒ laguinho(little lake)
café(coffee) ⇒ cafezinho(little coffee)
Let’s first look at words that take the diminutive ending -inho/a.
When to use the diminutive endings ‘-inho’ or ‘-inha’?
Add the diminutive ending -inho / -inha to nouns, adjectives, or adverbs that end with an unstressed vowel. In this case, drop the last vowel (-o or -a) and add -inho or -inha. The ending depends on the final vowel of the base.
Don’t forget that the diminutive ending does not depend on the word’s gender, only on its final vowel. Let’s look at an example of a case that might be confusing.
In Brazilian Portuguese, most words ending with -o are masculine and those ending with -a are feminine. However, sometimes the ending can be deceiving. For instance, in the sentence, what is the gender of cinema in: O cinema está lotado de gente(The cinema is full of people)?
As it turns out, cinema is a masculine word, even though it ends with -a! We can tell because it is accompanied by the definite articleNo definition set for definite articleLorem 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. o, which is only used for masculine words.
But when you are adding a diminutive ending, what matters is not the gender, but the final vowel. Because cinema ends with -a, it still takes the diminutive ending -inha, instead of -inho. So, the diminutive of o cinema is o cineminha. Notice that, just like the base word, this diminutive form is still masculine!
If you want to know more about noun gender in Brazilian Portuguese, take a look at this post.
When you add the ending -inha / -inho to words that end with -co, -ca, -go, and -ga, you’ll need to slightly change the spelling of the base, in order to retain the original pronunciation.
Let’s take a look at the word manga(mango). If you simply add -inha to the end of this word, you would make “manginha”, a word that, following normal spelling rules would be pronounced [manzheena]:
ga / go / gu[g] as in “goal”
ge / gi[zh] as in "vision"
ca / co / cu[k] as in "kite"
To keep the hard “g” or “k” sound of a base, before the -inha / -inho prefix, you must add a u in between them, as in:
manga[manga](mango) ⇒ manguinha[manguinha](little mango)
When to use the diminutive endings ‘-zinho’ and ‘-zinha’?
Add the diminutive ending -zinho or -zinha to words ending in certain consonants and nasal sounds, stressed vowels, diphthongs, or the ending -dade. Let’s take a look at each.
Words ending in the consonants l or r, or the nasal sounds -m, -ão, -ãe, or -õe, such as:
pão(bread) ⇒ pãozinho(little bread)
animal(animal) ⇒ animalzinho(little animal)
flor(flower) ⇒ florzinha(little flower)
To make the diminutive of words ending with m, you must replace the m with an n before adding -zinho or -zinha.
bom(good) ⇒ bonzinho(a little good)
Words ending with 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. vowelsNo definition set for vowelsLorem 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., such as:
café(coffee) ⇒ cafezinho(small coffee)
pé(foot) ⇒ pezinho(little foot)
Words that have a written accent in the last vowel lose the accent when -zinho and -zinha are added to it: café(coffee) ⇒ cafezinho(small coffee)
Words ending in diphthongsNo definition set for diphthongsLorem 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. (-ai, -oa, -ei, or -au), such as:
pai(father) ⇒ paizinho(little father)
Words ending in -dade, such as:
cidade(city) ⇒ cidadezinha(little city)
How to form the diminutive of plural words in Brazilian Portuguese?
Most words whose diminutives are formed with -inho / -inha or -zinho / -zinha make their plural and diminutive forms by adding an -sto the singular diminutive form of the word, such as:
mesinha(little table) ⇒ mesinhas
pequeninho(very small) ⇒ pequeninhos
rapidinho(fast) ⇒ rapidinhos
cidadezinha(small city) ⇒ cidadezinhas
However, if the base of the word ends in l or r, or in the nasal sounds ão, ãe, or õe, things are a bit different. Instead of adding an -s to the diminutive of the singular word, as mentioned above, you will need to:
Make the plural of the base word, as in:
papel(paper) ⇒ papéis(papers)
Remove the -s from the plural form:
If the word has a written accent in the last syllable, this must be removed as well:
Add -zinhos or -zinhas depending on the gender of the word:
In the table below, take a look at how different the diminutive of singular and plural words are.
If you want to know more about the plural of words in Brazilian Portuguese, read our post on the subject!
What are the other diminutive endings in Brazilian Portuguese?
There are other diminutive endings in Brazilian Portuguese that you can use instead of -(z)inho and -(z)inha in informal and everyday language, for example:
-ejo: lugar (place) ⇒ lugarejo(small place)
-ito or -ita: casa(house) ⇒ casita(small house)
Take a look at this list of more informal diminutive endings, as well as some examples!
In Brazilian Portuguese, it is possible for a word to have more than one diminutive form. While one is typically formed with -(z)inho or -(z)inha the other diminutive forms can use other endings. For example:
fácil(easy) = facilzinho = facinho
pequeno(small) = pequeninho = pequenininho = pequenino
Most of these other endings are used in everyday spoken language. The speaker is allowed to use his or her own judgment and play with all the possibilities existent in order to form diminutive forms, as long as the sound and original meaning of the word is not lost.
Take a look here at this list with other words that have multiple diminutive forms.
When to use diminutives in Brazilian Portuguese?
In general, diminutives are used in Brazilian Portuguese to indicate that someone or something is small in size.
O Miguel é aquele menininho ali no canto.
Miguel is that small boy there in the corner.
However, depending on the context, diminutives can be used more abstractly. Let’s now discuss the most common uses of the diminutive in Brazilian Portuguese. Here are some of their other uses:
To express affection or informality
Diminutives are often used to show affection, care, friendliness, and even informality.
Affection:Minha queridinha, quando você vai me ligar?
My darling, when will you call me?
Informality:Você pode esperar só um minutinho?
Can you wait only a few minutes?
For nicknames
The use of diminutives to make nicknames is very common in Brazil, and they are often given to kids, whose nicknames continue throughout life. For this reason, the diminutive also shows affection and care.
O Paulinho veio aqui ontem.
Paul came here yesterday.
lit. Little Paul came here yesterday.
You might have already heard of Ronaldinho, the famous Brazilian soccer player. This is one of those diminutive nicknames!
To minimize something
Diminutives are used to soften a word, lessen the importance of the thing it represents, or to minimize a situation.
Caio, você pode me ajudar? Estou com um probleminha.
Caio, can you help me? I have a little problem.
By using the diminutive word probleminha, instead of problema(problem), you are implying that the issue you have is easy to solve.
To express politeness
You may also use a diminutive to show politeness, especially when making questions and requiring or ordering something.
Você pode me fazer um favorzinho?
Can you do me a favor?
lit. Can you do me a little favor?
Carlos, você pode ficar quietinho?
Carlos, can you be quiet?
lit. Carlos, can you be a little quiet?
Here, when using favorzinho and quietinho, instead of favor and quieto, you want to make an order or request to sound less authoritarian. The diminutive is a good way to talk to people and not offend them or not sound so bossy.
To express sarcasm or irony
The use of diminutives to show sarcasm and irony is perhaps the hardest one to detect, especially if you are not familiar with the language yet. In this case, you may try to understand the context in order to comprehend the exact use of the diminutive.
What (unpleasant) place is this?
lit. What little place is this?
The word lugarzinho, in the example above, can refer to a small place, but can also provide the opinion of the person speaking. In this case, it can mean a filthy or unpleasant place.
Diminutive endings like -eco / -ico and -ebre also often add a pejorative meaning to the word.
Eu não escrevi esse livreco.
I didn't write this ‘bad’ book.
lit. I didn't write this small book.
This looks like a miserable house.
lit. This looks like a small house.
In these examples, the use of the diminutive with -eco and -ebre shows a criticism to the book and the house. In these cases, not only does the book have no quality, but the house is miserable.
Knowing if the use of other diminutive forms brings a deprecatory meaning to a word is sometimes a trick task. Most of the time, this meaning is clear in the context.
To add emphasis
In Brazilian Portuguese, diminutives are often used to emphasize the meaning of something. Let’s take a look at these examples below:
Moro perto do parque. → Moro pertinho do parque.
I live close to the park.
Precisamos acordar cedo amanhã. → Precisamos acordar cedinho amanhã.
We need to wake up early tomorrow.
The diminutives pertinho and cedinho, in the examples above, can be translated as “very close” and “very early” in English to emphasize how close I live to the park and how early we need to wake up tomorrow morning. In Brazilian Portuguese, you have the option to substitute the diminutive -inho(a) or -zinho(a) by placing the word muito(very) in front of an adjective or adverb, as in:
Moro muito perto do parque.
I live very close to the park.
Precisamos acordar muito cedo amanhã.
We need to wake up very early tomorrow morning.
The diminutive, however, is often used to show informality and friendliness, whereas the use of muito is more formal.
To express dissatisfaction or displeasure
You can also use diminutives to emphasize your dissatisfaction or displeasure with regard to something or someone.
Summary
Here’s what we’ve covered about forming Brazilian Portuguese diminutives:
They are often made by adding -inho, -inha, -zinho or -zinha to the end of a noun, adjective, or adverb: casa(house) → casinha(little house)
The plural of the diminutives:
With some words, you can add an -s to their diminutive form, as in: casinhas(little houses).
Other words have their own diminutive based on their plural forms: limão(lemon) → limões(lemons) → limõezinhos(little lemons)
Some words use other diminutive endings, such as -ita, as in florzita(small flower).
We also covered the uses of diminutives. As we saw, diminutives are not only used to talk about a small size or quantity, but also:
to minimize the sense of something
to show dissatisfaction or displeasure
Finally, we talked about some words that end in -inho or -inha that are not diminutive.
Now, it's time to practice how to form and use diminutives in Brazilian Portuguese!
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