Spanish · Chapter 40 · Lesson 8 · Grammar primer
Diminutives and augmentatives: -ito, -illo, -on, -azo
The suffixes that pervade real Spanish: casita (little house), un poquito, ahorita and abuelita (affection), un hombron and exitazo (size), plus the blow sense (portazo) and frozen forms like bolsillo.
The short version
A diminutive is about warmth, not size
Un momentito is not a shorter moment than un momento, it is a friendlier way of asking someone to wait. Casita is a house spoken of fondly, abuelita is granny with affection, un poquito hedges a quantity. Textbooks sell -ito as shrinking; in real Spanish it is mostly softening and endearment.
un momentito
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