Posts tagged with "suffix"

Diminutives in Spanish

Posted by Adir No Comments
Jan 14 2010

Spanish uses a lot of diminutives and the Real Academia Española has some rules to form them; check them out.

1. One-syllable words

a) ending in a vowel: pie (foot) – -ececito, -ececillo, -ececico, -ecezuelo: piececito.
b) ending in a consonant or y: rey (king) – -ecito, -ecillo, -ecico, -ezuelo, -achuelo, -ichuelo: reyecito.

2. Two-syllable words

a) ending in e, ia, ua, io, ei, ie, ue (in the first syllable): calle (street), reina (queen) – -ecito, -ecillo, -ecico, -ezuelo, -achuelo, -ichuelo: callecita, reinecita

b) ending in n and r: joven (youngster), amor (love) – -cito, -cillo, -cico, -zuelo : jovencito, amorcito

3. Three or more syllables

a) ending in n or r: imagen (image), comedor (dining room) – -cito, -cillo, -cico, -zuelo : imagencita, comedorcito

b) any other ending: animal - -ito, -illo, -ico, -uelo: animalito

These are general rules, but there are plenty of exceptions, so listen carefully for them.

The suffix -ado/-ada

Posted by Adir No Comments
Apr 20 2009

The suffix –ado/-ada can mean “-ful” or “-load”. So, a “cucharada” is a “spoonful (cuchara = spoon). Let’s see some more examples.

la barcada - boatload (el barco – boat)
la brazada – armful (el brazo – arm); stroke (in swimming)
la calderada - cauldron full (la caldera – cauldron, boiler)
la camionada - truckload (el camión – truck)
la carretada – wagonload (la carreta – wagon)
la carretillada - wheelbarrow load (la carretilla – wheelbarrow)
la cazolada – potful (el cazo – [cooking] pot, saucepan)
la hornada – oven full, “batch” (el horno – oven)
la lagarada – press full (el lagar – winepress)
la narigada – pinch of snuff (la nariz – nose)
la palada – shovelful (la pala – shovel)
la paletada – trowel full (la paleta – trowel)
la ponchada – punch bowl full, “loads” (el ponche – punch)
el puñado – fistful, handful (el puño – fist)
la sartenada – panful, skillet full (la sartén – frying pan, skillet)
la tonelada – ton, barrelful (el tonel – barrel)
la vagonada - boxcar full (el vagón – boxcar)
la zurronada – bagful (el zurrón – pouch, leather bag)

Nos vemos prontito!

Verbs in -ducir

Posted by Transparent Language 1 Comment
Jul 18 2008

We know that a suffix is often added to a word stem to create new words, but that isn’t always the case. Let’s take the example of the suffix –ducir in Spanish and some verbs formed with it: conducir, reducir, deducir, etc. Such verbs are derived from Latin ducere, which meant “to lead”. The examples below are cognates of English verbs ending in either “-duce” or “-duct” and their meanings coincide in English and Spanish. They have irregular conjugation in the first person singular in the present (yo conduzco) and its preterite forms are conjugated as conduje, condujiste, condujo, etc. The website 123 Teach Me (www.123teachme.com) has a very good Spanish verb conjugator, so make sure you check it out. Here are the most common verbs ending in -ducir, along with a usage example of each:

Aducir (to adduce, to allege) – Él adujo que estaba borracho como atenuante. (He alleged being drunk as an extenuating circumstance.)

Conducir (to drive, to manage, to lead) – El director condujo la reunión de forma muy dinámica. (The director conducted the meeting in a very dynamic way.)

Deducir (to deduce, to infer) – Como llegaba empapado, deduje que había estado en la lluvia. (As he arrived soaking wet, I deduced he had been caught in the rain.)

Inducir (to induce, to lead) – A mí me indujeron el parto en la semana 41 del embarazo. (They induced labor on the 41st week of my pregnancy.)

Introducir (to introduce) – Este país introdujo el café en Europa. (This country introduced coffee to Europe.)

Producir (to produce) – Emilio Estefan produjo discos para artistas como Ricky Martin, Shakira y Thalía. (Emilio Estefan produced records for artists like Ricky Martin, Shakira and Thalia.)

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