Portuguese Diminutives and Augmentatives: -inho, -zinho, -ão
By Michael McGettrickUpdated 11 October 2026
Portuguese can shrink or enlarge a noun with an ending: -inho makes it small or friendly, -ão makes it big. The diminutive is everywhere in Brazilian speech, and it is far more about warmth than size.
Quick check
Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.
Pick the right one
0/3Which ending does the word take?
livro
café
mãe
The whole system on one screen
| Base | Ending | New word | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| -inha | | a little house |
| -inho | livrinho | a little book |
| -zinho | cafezinho | a coffee, offered |
| -zinho | | a bread roll |
| -ão | carrão | a big, flashy car |
| -arão | casarão | a big old house |
The diminutive keeps the base's gender: , . The rest of the page is the three things the table cannot show: when to use -zinho, what the endings really mean, and the plurals.
-inho or -zinho?
The base decides:
| Base ends in | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| unstressed vowel | drop it, -inho | livrinho |
| stressed vowel | -zinho | cafezinho |
| nasal (-ão, -ãe) | -zinho | mãezinha |
| consonant | -zinho | florzinha |
Words in -s and -z usually take plain -inho: , rapazinho, a young lad.
.- I live in a little house near the beach.cafezinho?- Will you have a coffee?
Two spelling adjustments keep the sound of the base. A written accent goes, because the stress moves to -inho: gives cafezinho. And c or g before the i becomes qu or gu:
,- a little, a tiny bit,amiguinho- a little friend
What the diminutive really means
Size is the least of it. A Brazilian uses -inho to sound friendly, polite or emphatic:
| Use | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| small | | a little house |
| affection | filhinho | my darling boy |
| politeness | minutinho. | Just a moment. |
| an offer | cafezinho? | A coffee? |
| emphasis | cedinho. | I woke up really early. |
| emphasis | pertinho. | It's really close. |
The politeness row is the one to use first. minutinho sounds friendlier than , and nobody hears a smaller minute.
BR and EP: both varieties use -inho all the time, but the favourite words differ. A little bit is in Brazil and bocadinho in :
?- Could you speak a little slower? (BR)bocadinho.- Hang on a moment. (EP)
The augmentative: -ão
The augmentative makes a noun bigger, and often says something about the speaker's feelings: admiration, or a raised eyebrow.
| Base | Augmentative | English |
|---|---|---|
| carrão | a big, flashy car |
| jogão | a great match |
| casarão | a big old house |
carrão.- He bought a flashy car.jogão!- What a match that was!casarão .- They live in a big old house.
The -ão augmentative is masculine, even from a feminine base: , but casarão. Everyday speech also builds a feminine augmentative in -ona: casona, a big house; mulherona, a tall, striking woman.
Plurals of diminutives and augmentatives
A plain -inho word adds -s like any noun ending in a vowel. A -zinho word builds on the plural of its base: take the plural, drop its -s, add -zinhos.
| Singular | Base plural | Plural |
|---|---|---|
livrinho | | livrinhos |
| | |
cafezinho | | cafezinhos |
carrão | - | carrões |
.- I'd like four bread rolls.carrões.- He has two big cars.
Augmentatives in -ão always take -ões, whatever the base.
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| pãozinhos | | built on the plural |
| carrãos | carrões | augmentatives take -ões |
| amigoinho | amiguinho | drop the -o; g becomes gu |
| cafézinho | cafezinho | the accent goes with the stress |
What to do next
Common diminutives and augmentatives, and their plurals, are on the Pearson Edexcel GCSE Portuguese specification at Foundation and Higher tier.
- Use
minutinhoand - Learn
,as a pair. - The plural rules underneath all of this are in Portuguese noun gender and plurals.