All's Well That Ends Well: A Lesson in Suffixes

Dateline: 04/05/99

Want to increase your Spanish vocabulary? One sure-fire way is to take the words you already know and learn how to apply suffixes to them.

Suffixes are simply word endings that can be used to modify a word's meaning. We use them in English all the time, and nearly all of them that we use in English have a Spanish equivalent. But Spanish has an even wider variety, and their usage isn't always as obvious as it would be in English.

Take a common word like manteca, for example. That's the word for lard, a much-used cooking ingredient in Mexico and some other Spanish-speaking countries. Add the ending -illa, a common ending, and it becomes mantequilla, or butter. Add the ending -ero, and it becomes mantequero, which can mean either a dairyman or a butter dish. (The spelling is changed from "c" to "qu" to maintain the pronunciation.) Add the ending -ada, and it becomes mantecada, or buttered toast. Add -ado, and it becomes mantecado, or french ice cream.

Unfortunately, and the above words are an example, it isn't always possible to figure out what a word means simply by knowing the root word and the suffixes. But the suffixes may give enough clues that in context you can make a more educated guess. For example, the -ado and -ada endings are often the equivalent of the English "-ed." So it isn't hard to see how mantecada could come to mean something buttered, just as in English "a malted" can refer to a milkshake with malt in it.

Spanish suffixes can roughly be classified as diminutives, augmentatives, pejoratives, English cognates, and miscellaneous ones. And one, the adverbial suffix, is in a class of its own.

The Adverbial Suffix

Probably the most common Spanish suffix is -mente, which is usually added to the feminine single form of adjectives to turn them into adverbs, just as we add "-ly" in English. Thus simplemente is "simply," cariñosamente is "lovingly," rápidamente is "quickly," and so on.

Diminutives

These suffixes are extremely common and are used to make a word refer to something smaller, either literally or figuratively as in a form of endearment. Thus, un gato is a cat, but un gatito is a kitten. In English we sometimes do the same thing by adding "-y." The most common diminutive is -ito (or its feminine equivalent, -ita), sometimes expanded to -cito, and sometimes -illo or even -zuelo. You can add one of these endings to many nouns and adjectives to arrive at a diminutive form.

Augmentatives

Augmentatives are the opposite of diminutives and aren't used as much. Augmentative endings include -ote, -ota, -ón, -ona, -azo, and -aza. For examples, un arbolote is a large tree, and un hombrón is a big or tough dude.

Just as the diminutives sometimes are used to denote an endearing quality, the augmentatives can be used to convey a negative connotation. Whereas un perrito may be a cute puppy, un perrazo could be a big scary dog.

One augmentative, -ísimo, and its feminine and plural forms are used with adjectives to form a superlative. Bill Gates isn't just rich, he's riquísimo.

Pejoratives

Pejoratives are added to words to indicate contempt or some form of undesirability. They include -aco, -aca, -acho, -acha, -ajo, -aja, -ote, -ota, -ucho, and -ucha. The precise translation often depends on the context. Examples include casucha, a house that's falling apart, and ricacho, referring to a person who is rich in some undesirable way, such as arrogant.

English cognates

These suffixes are ones that are similar to suffixes in English and have a similar meaning. Many of them have come to both languages by way of Greek or Latin. Many of them have an abstract meaning, or are used to change one part of speech into another.

Here are some of the more commonly used cognates:
 

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
-aje	-age	kilometraje, mileage
-ancia	-ancy	discrepancia, discrepancy
-arquía	-archy	monarquía, monarchy
-ático	-atic	lunático, lunatic
-ble	-ble	manejable, manageable
-cida, -cidio	-cide	insectida, insecticide
-cion	-tion	agravacion, aggravation
-cracia	-cracy	democracia, democracy
-crata	-crat	burócrata, bureaucrat
-dad	-ity	pomposidad, pomposity
-esa, -iz, -isa	-ess	actriz, actress
-fico, -fica	-fic	horrífico, horrific
-filo, filia	-phile	bibliofilo, bibliophile
-fobia	-phobia	claustrofobia, claustrophobia
-fono	-phone	teléfono, telephone
-icio, -icia	-ice	avaricia, avarice
-íficar	-ify	dignificar, to dignify
-ismo	-ism	budismo, Buddhism
-ista	-ist	dentista, dentist
-itis	-itis	flebitis, phlebitis
-tude	-tude	latitud, latitude
-izo	-ish	rojizo, reddish
-or, -ora	-er	pintor, painter
-osa, -oso	-ous	maravilloso, marvelous

Miscellaneous suffixes

Finally, there are a number of suffixes that don't have a clear English equivalent. Some of them can vary in usage depending on the word. Here are some of the common ones:
 

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
-ada	similar to English suffix "-ful" or "-load"	cucharada, spoonful
-ado, -ido	can indicate similarity to root word	dolorido, painful
-al	indicates a tree or grove	manzanal, apple tree
-anza	makes noun forms of some verbs	enseñanza, education
-ario	indicates profession or place	bibliotecario, librarian
-azo	a blow of the object of the root word	estacazo, a hit with a stick
-dero	indicates instrument, means, or capacity	lavandero, laundry
-dor	indicates agent or place; sometimes similar to "-er"	jugador, player; comedor, diner
-dura	indicates the effect of an action	picadura, puncture
-ear	common verb ending, often used with coined words	emailear, to email
-ense	indicates place of origin	estadounidense, of the United States
-ería	place where items are made or sold	zapatería, shoe store
-ero, -era	variety of meanings relating to root word	sombrero, hat; vaquero, cowboy
-és	indicates place of origin	holandés, Dutch
-eza	makes abstract nouns from adjectives	pureza, purity

Enjoy your learning! Come back next week for a quiz on what you've learned.

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