Learn about diminutives in Portuguese
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are diminutives and how are they formed in Portuguese? |
| Ana Clara: And are they commonly used? |
| Michael: At PortuguesePod101.com, we hear these questions often. Clara Costa points out a cute kitten to her daughter, Cristina Costa . She says, |
| "Look at the kitten!" |
| Clara Costa: Olha o gatinho! |
| Dialogue |
| Clara Costa: Olha o gatinho! |
| Cristina Costa: Que fofinho! |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Clara Costa: Olha o gatinho! |
| Michael: "Look at the kitten!" |
| Cristina Costa: Que fofinho! |
| Michael: "How cute!" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Diminutives in Portuguese are often formed by adding a suffix or |
| Ana Clara: sufixo |
| Michael: to nouns, adjectives, and even with adverbs to convey different meanings, such as indicating the small size of something, showing endearment, or the very opposite, disdain. |
| The most common suffixes are: |
| Ana Clara: -inho, -inha, |
| Michael: which replace the |
| Ana Clara: -o and -a |
| Michael: endings of the target noun, for example: |
| Ana Clara: gato, gatinho |
| Michael: "cat" and "kitten." In this example, the ending |
| Ana Clara: -o |
| Michael: of the noun "cat" in the singular masculine form: |
| Ana Clara: gato |
| Michael: was replaced by |
| Ana Clara: -inho |
| Michael: to form its diminutive: |
| Ana Clara: gatinho |
| Michael: If it were a singular feminine noun, for example, we'd have: |
| Ana Clara: casa, casinha |
| Michael: "house" and literally, "little house," in which the ending |
| Ana Clara: -a |
| Michael: of the noun "house" in Portuguese was replaced by |
| Ana Clara: -inha, |
| Michael: creating its diminutive. For the plural form, we'll add an |
| Ana Clara: -s |
| Michael: at the end of the diminutive. In the examples we just used, we'd have: |
| Ana Clara: gatos, gatinhos |
| Michael: "cats" and "kittens." |
| Ana Clara: casas, casinhas |
| Michael: "houses" and "little houses." |
| When the noun ends in a diphthong, a nasal or a stressed vowel, a |
| Ana Clara: -z |
| Michael: is inserted before adding the suffix and we have: |
| Ana Clara: -zinho, -zinha |
| Michael: Acute (´) and circumflex (^) accents are typically removed, but the tilde (~) usually remains. Let's check out some examples. First, we have a diphthong: |
| Ana Clara: chapéu, chapeuzinho |
| Michael: "hat" and "little hat." The |
| Ana Clara: -z |
| Michael: was added before adding the suffix |
| Ana Clara: -inho |
| Michael: and the acute accent was removed in the diminutive form. Next, a nasal: |
| Ana Clara: mão, mãozinha |
| Michael: "hand" and "little hand." The |
| Ana Clara: -z |
| Michael: was added before adding the suffix |
| Ana Clara: -inha |
| Michael: and, the tilde was kept in the diminutive form. And, finally, a stressed vowel: |
| Ana Clara: café, cafezinho |
| Michael: "coffee" and "little coffee." The |
| Ana Clara: -z |
| Michael: was added before adding the suffix |
| Ana Clara: -inho, |
| Michael: and the acute accent was removed in the diminutive form. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Clara Costa says "Look at the kitten!"? |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Ana Clara: Olha o gatinho! |
| Michael: As we've seen, the diminutive was formed by removing the ending |
| Ana Clara: -o |
| Michael: of the noun: |
| Ana Claro: gato |
| Michael: And adding the suffix |
| Ana Clara: -inho, |
| Michael: resulting in: |
| Ana Clara: gatinho |
| Michael: "kitten." In this case, it indicates a meaning of "small size," as we're referring to a "kitten" or literally, a "little cat." |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Cristina Costa says "How cute!" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Ana Clara: Que fofinho! |
| Michael: In this case, we have an adjective: |
| Ana Clara: fofo |
| Michael: "cute." To form the diminutive, we also remove the ending |
| Ana Clara: -o |
| Michael: and add |
| Ana Clara: -inho |
| Michael: like in, |
| Ana Clara: fofinho |
| Michael: In this case, the diminutive conveys a meaning of endearment, as Cristina Costa considers the kitten "very cute." |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you've learned that diminutives are commonly used in Portuguese and they can express the small size of something or show the speaker's emotion towards something or someone. |
| Now, let's look at some examples. Our first example is: |
| Ana Clara: Comprei copinhos de papel para a gente usar na festa. |
| Michael: "I bought small paper cups for us to use at the party." |
| Here, the plural masculine noun: |
| Ana Clara: copos |
| Michael: "cups," was changed to its diminutive form: |
| Ana Clara: copinhos |
| Michael: "small cups," indicating their small size. As we've seen, the diminutive is formed by removing the ending |
| Ana Clara: -os |
| Michael: of the noun (as in this case it's in the plural form) and adding the suffix |
| Ana Clara: -inhos. |
| Michael: The next example is: |
| Ana Clara: Adoro esta blusa, é tão quentinha! |
| Michael: "I love this blouse, it's so (very) warm!" |
| In this case, the adjective: |
| Ana Clara: quente |
| Michael: "warm" was changed to its diminutive form: |
| Ana Clara: quentinha |
| Michael: " (very) warm" |
| In this example, the diminutive intensifies the speaker's idea that the blouse is warm, showing how she feels about it, how she experiences it. |
| The diminutive in this case had the suffix |
| Ana Clara: -inha |
| Michael: added, which is the singular feminine version, to agree with the noun that it qualifies, which is also in the singular feminine form: |
| Ana Clara: blusa |
| Michael: "blouse" |
| Expansion |
| Michael: In some cases, the diminutive can show disdain or criticism towards something or someone. Let's see an example: |
| Ana Clara: Ah, que pessoa chatinha! |
| Michael: "Oh, what a (really) annoying person!" |
| The normal form of the adjective is: |
| Ana Clara: chata, |
| Michael: which means "annoying" or "boring." And the diminutive was formed by removing the |
| Ana Clara: -a |
| Michael: and adding the suffix |
| Ana Clara: -inha: |
| [pause 2 seconds] |
| Ana Clara: chatinha |
| Michael: The use of the diminutive intensifies the meaning of the used adjective. So, it would actually mean "really" or "very annoying." |
| Usually, the word is stressed while speaking to show the speaker's feeling towards something or someone. |
| Michael: Adverbs can also be used in the diminutive form, for example: |
| Ana Clara: Eu consigo resolver este problema rapidinho. Pode deixar comigo! |
| Michael: "I can solve this problem (really) quickly. You can leave it to me!" |
| Here, the adverb: |
| Ana Clara: rápido, |
| Michael: which means "quick," was used in the diminutive form: |
| Ana Clara: rapidinho |
| Michael: so that the meaning of doing something fast was intensified, so its meaning in the sentence is "(really) quickly" |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after Ana Clara focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how Clara Costa says "Look at the kitten!" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: Olha o gatinho! |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Ana Clara: Olha o gatinho! |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: Olha o gatinho! |
| Michael: And do you remember how Cristina Costa says "How cute!" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: Que fofinho! |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Ana Clara: Que fofinho! |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ana Clara: Que fofinho! |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: Did you know that one of the most traditional items eaten for breakfast in Brazil is also a word in the diminutive form? |
| Ana Clara: pãozinho |
| Michael: Literally. "little bread." Yes, if you go to Brazil you will surely try their delicious bread for breakfast, usually eaten with butter or margarine. It's crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside and it is a must-try food. You can order it anywhere: in bakeries, snack bars, or prepare it at home. Along with a coffee, it's the perfect combination for a typical Brazilian breakfast. It is also called: |
| Ana Clara: pão francês, |
| Michael: literally "French bread." When ordering it for breakfast anywhere, you'll use the term: |
| Ana Clara: pão na chapa, |
| MIchael: which is "toasted bread" and is prepared on a grill or hot plate, either with butter or margarine. Simple and delicious! |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Ana Clara: Até a próxima! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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