Ch 40 · Lesson 9Spanish · Chapter 40 · Lesson 9 · Grammar primer
Augmentatives: un hombrón, un portazo, una casucha
-ón, -azo and -ote make things big, -azo also names a blow ( portazo), -ucho sneers ( casucha), and some forms froze into new words: , .
The short version
-azo makes things big, or names a blow
portazo.
Why?Hide
exitazo is a smash hit and cochazo a fabulous car: -azo enlarges. But the same ending also names a blow made with the base: codazo is a jab with the elbow, portazo a slammed door.
.
Why?Hide
Some diminutives and augmentatives became words of their own. is a pocket, not a little bag; is a sandwich in Spain; is an armchair, and masculine although is feminine. Learn them as new words.
Augmentatives: -ón, -azo, -ote
Augmentatives make things big, and add admiration or a sneer:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
hombrón | a big, burly man |
exitazo | a smash hit |
cochazo | a fabulous great car |
| great big |
comilón | a big eater |
preguntón | someone who asks endless questions |
-ón on a verb stem names a person by a habit: comilón from , preguntón from .
-azo: a blow
The same -azo also names a blow or a sudden hit, made with the thing in the base:
| Base | Blow | English |
|---|---|---|
| codazo | a jab with the elbow |
| portazo | a slammed door |
| golpazo | a heavy blow |
portazo.- He/She left and slammed the door.
Pejoratives: -ucho, -uza, the sneer
A small set exists only to disparage:
casucha- a hovelgentuza- riff-raff
The same word can move from sneer to affection with the ending alone:
- una casuchaa hovel
- una casaa house
- una casitaa dear little house
Frozen words and the gender flip
Some of these forms have frozen into words of their own. Learn them as new vocabulary:
pocket, not a little bag
a sandwich (Spain)
a ticket window
an armchair
| Word | Means | Not |
|---|---|---|
| a little | |
| sandwich | a little |
| ticket window, car window | a small |
| armchair | a big |
An augmentative can change the gender:
cucharón- the ladle.
The blows in -azo are always masculine, whatever the base: , but portazo.
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| casucha (cosy) | | -ucha sneers |
| pocito (a bit) | | c becomes qu |
| portón (a slam) | portazo | a portón is a big door, a gate |
| the augmentative is masculine | |
| bolsito (pocket) | | a pocket is frozen: |
Going further: Diminutives and augmentatives at a glance and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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