torrential waterfalls at Iguazu Falls create swirling mist in the valley below

Study Resource: Brazilian Portuguese diminutives

By: Ana Amélia Rodrigues dos Santos

Associated Articles

These activities are part of our Brazilian Portuguese Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:

This is a reference sheet designed to support our article on Brazilian Portuguese diminutives, which are special forms of words for small or insignificant versions of things.

Basic diminutive endings

Singular	Diminutive singular	Plural	Diminutive plural
animal animal	animalzinho little animal	animais animals	animaizinhos little animals
mulher woman	mulherzinha little woman	mulheres women	mulherezinhas little women
pão bread	pãozinho little bread	pães breads	pãezinhos little breads

Alternative diminutive endings

Diminutive ending	Example
-ino/a	pequenino/a very small
-im	espadim small world
-acho/a	riacho small river
-icho/a	canicho small dog
-ucho/a	papelucho small paper
-ebre	casebre small house
-eco/a	jornaleco small newspaper
-ico/a	papelico small paper
-ela	ruela small street, alley
-elho/a	rapazelho small boy
-ejo	animalejo small animal
-ilho/a	cintilho small strap
-ete	livrete small book
-eto/a	poemeto small poem

Words with more than one diminutive form

Base Word	Diminutive Forms
abelha bee	abelhita, abelhazinha, abelhinha
animal animal	animalejo, animalzinho, animálculo
banho bath	banhoca, banhinho, banhito, banhozinho
barraca tend	barraquim, barraquinha
barulho noise	barulhito, barulhinho
bigode mustache	bigodinho, bigodito
boca mouth	boquita, boquinha
cabeça head	cabecinha, cabecita
caixa box	caixinha, caixeta, caixote, caixola
caminhão truck	caminhãozinho, camioneta, caminhonete
cão dog	cãozinho, cãozito, canito, canicho
casa house	casebre, casinha, casita
chapéu hat	chapelete, chapeuzinho, chapeleta, chapelinho
chuva rain	chuvisco, chuvinha, chuvisqueiro
cócegas tickles	coceguinhas, cosquinhas
colher spoon	colherinha, colherzinha, colherzita
fazenda farm	fazendola, fazendinha
filho son	filhinho, filhote
flor flower	florinha, florículo, florzinha, flósculo
homem man	homenzinho, homenzito, homúnculo, hominho
igreja church	igrejinha, igrejola
ilha island	ilhéu, ilhota, ilhazinha
índio indian	indiozinho, indiozito
jardim garden	jardinzito, jardinzinho
livro book	livrinho, livrozinho, livreto, livreco, livrete
macaco monkey	macaquinho, macaquito
mala suitcase	malinha, maleta, malote
moça young woman	mocinha, moçoila
mulher woman	mulherzinha, mulherinha
nariz nose	narizinho, narizito
nó knot	nódulo, nozinho
palavra word	palavrinha, palavrita
pão bread	pãozito, pãozinho
papel paper	papelzinho, papelucho, papelinho, papelico, papelete
porta door	portinhola, portinha
rapaz young boy	rapazola, rapazote, rapazelho, rapazinho, rapagote
rio river	riozinho, riozito, ribeiro, riacho, regato
sala room	salinha, salita, saleta
tábua board	tabuinha, tabuazinha
vara stick	vareta, varela, varinha
velho old	velhote, velhinho, velhusco
vila village	vilela, vileta, vilola, vilarejo, vilinha, vilazinha
voz voice	vozinha, vozita
xícara cup	xicarazinha, xicarinha, xicarazita

Words ending in ‘-inho’ or ‘-inha’ that are not diminutives

Though the endings -inho or -inha are commonly used for diminutives, some words with these endings are not diminutive in meaning. A few examples are given below.

-inho	-inha
vizinho male neighbor	vizinha female neighbor
marinho navy color	marinha navy
espinho thorn	espinha pimple, spine
mesquinho stingy (m.)	mesquinha stingy (f.)
viribeirinho a person (m.) who lives close to a river	ribeirinha a person (f.) who lives close to the river
padrinho godfather	madrinha godmother
sozinho alone (m.)	sozinha alone (f.)
Other Words: caminho(path) ninho(nest) pintinho(path) cominho(cumin) vinho(wine) moinho(mill) focinho(snout) golfinho(dolphin) ursinho(teddy bear) NOTE: Ursinhocan also be the diminutive for urso(bear). The word urso de pelúcia is another way to refer to a teddy bear.	Other Words: sardinha(sardine) rainha(queen) campainha(bell) varinha(wand) cozinha(kitchen) andorinha(swallow bird) coxinha(a Brazilian snack) linha(line) farinha(flour) dobradinha(Brazilian tripe stew) pinha(pinecone, custard apple)

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