The Afrikaans diminutive — the -ie family of endings that turns boek (book) into boekie (little book) — looks intimidating because there are six different forms: -ie, -tjie, -etjie, -jie, -kie and -pie. Competitors tend to present this as a list of words to memorise. It is not. The choice is entirely phonological: the final sound of the base word decides which ending attaches, and nothing else. Learn the handful of rules below and you can build the diminutive of a word you have never seen, just by listening to how it ends. That is the goal of this page — to hand you the algorithm rather than a vocabulary list.
For what the diminutive means (smallness, affection, contempt), see diminutive meaning; for the finer spelling adjustments, see diminutive spelling. Here we focus only on which ending to pick.
The selection table
Read this top to bottom; the first rule that matches the word's ending wins.
| Word ends in… | Suffix | Example |
|---|---|---|
| most consonants (b, k, p, f, g, s, ch…) | -ie | boek → boekie |
| -d or -t | -jie | hand → handjie; kat → katjie |
| a vowel, or l/n/r after a long vowel or diphthong | -tjie | stoel → stoeltjie; koei → koeitjie |
| -m | -pie | boom → boompie; arm → armpie |
| a short vowel + a single l, m, n, r or ng | -etjie (double the consonant) | ding → dingetjie; man → mannetjie |
| unstressed -ing | -kie (drop the g) | koning → koninkie |
The rest of the page explains each row, with the why behind it.
-ie: the default, after most consonants
When a word ends in an ordinary consonant — b, k, p, f, g, s and the like — you simply add -ie. This is the workhorse ending and the one to fall back on when none of the special rules apply.
Gee my asseblief daardie boekie.
Please hand me that little book.
Hy het 'n koppie koffie bestel.
He ordered a cup of coffee.
Note kop → koppie: the p doubles in writing to keep the preceding vowel short, but the ending is still plain -ie. That doubling is a spelling convention, covered on the spelling page; it does not change which ending you chose.
Daar lê 'n klippie in my skoen.
There's a little stone in my shoe.
-jie: after -d and -t
When a word ends in -d or -t, the ending is -jie. The t/d and the j fuse in pronunciation into a soft -tjie-like sound, but it is written simply by adding -jie to the existing d or t.
Sy hou my handjie vas oor die straat.
She holds my little hand crossing the street.
Kyk hoe slaap die katjie.
Look how the kitten sleeps.
Daar staan 'n bordjie by die deur.
There's a little sign by the door.
-tjie: after vowels and after long-vowel l/n/r
Two situations call for -tjie. The first is a word ending in a vowel (or a diphthong) — there is no consonant to lean on, so the fuller -tjie attaches:
Die koeitjie staan in die veld.
The little cow stands in the field.
The second — the one to watch — is a word ending in l, n or r when the vowel before it is long (or a diphthong). A long vowel "carries" the -tjie:
Trek 'n stoeltjie nader en sit.
Pull a little chair closer and sit.
Here stoel has the long oe, so it takes -tjie → stoeltjie. This is exactly where it contrasts with the next rule.
-etjie: short vowel + single l, m, n, r or ng (double the consonant)
This is the form English speakers most often miss. When a word ends in a single l, m, n, r or ng preceded by a short, stressed vowel, the ending is -etjie, and the final consonant doubles in writing (because the short vowel must stay short before the added syllable).
| Base | Diminutive | English |
|---|---|---|
| man | mannetjie | little man |
| kam | kammetjie | little comb |
| ding | dingetjie | little thing |
| bel | belletjie | little bell |
| ster | sterretjie | little star |
Note that -ng does not double the g — ding → dingetjie, because ng is a single sound — but m, n, l, r all double their letter.
Wat is daardie dingetjie op die tafel?
What's that little thing on the table?
Ag, kyk die klein mannetjie loop al.
Aw, look, the little fellow's already walking.
Sy het 'n sterretjie op haar wang geverf.
She painted a little star on her cheek.
The logic is purely about syllable weight: a short vowel needs a "buffer" syllable (-e-) and a doubled consonant before the -tjie sound can attach without lengthening the vowel.
-pie: after -m (long vowel)
When a word ends in -m after a long vowel or after another consonant (so the m is not the short-vowel -etjie case), the ending is -pie. The m and the p are both lip sounds, and the p glides on naturally.
Daar groei 'n boompie in die agterplaas.
A little tree is growing in the backyard.
Die baba se armpie is so klein.
The baby's little arm is so small.
Die baba se duimpie is in sy mond.
The baby's little thumb is in his mouth.
Contrast boom (long oo) → boompie with kam (short a) → kammetjie. Same final letter m, different vowel length, different ending — again, the vowel decides.
-kie: after unstressed -ing
Words ending in the unstressed suffix -ing take -kie, and the g drops: koning → koninkie. (The k represents the velar sound that ng already carries.)
In die sprokie woon 'n ou koninkie.
In the fairy tale there lives a little king.
Hulle het 'n nuwe woninkie gekoop.
They bought a little dwelling.
Be careful to distinguish this from the stressed monosyllable ding (a short-vowel word), which takes -etjie → dingetjie. The -kie rule is only for the unstressed -ing of longer words like koning, woning, ring in the suffix sense.
Common mistakes
❌ stoeletjie
Incorrect — stoel has a long vowel, so it takes -tjie, not -etjie.
✅ stoeltjie
little chair
❌ mantjie / manetjie
Incorrect — man has a short vowel + single n, so it doubles to -netjie.
✅ mannetjie
little man
❌ boomtjie
Incorrect — words ending in -m take -pie, not -tjie.
✅ boompie
little tree
❌ kattjie
Incorrect — a word ending in -t takes -jie (no extra t).
✅ katjie
kitten
❌ koningtjie
Incorrect — unstressed -ing takes -kie and drops the g.
✅ koninkie
little king
Key takeaways
- The diminutive ending is chosen by the final sound of the word — a fully phonological rule, not a list to memorise.
- Default -ie after most consonants; -jie after d/t; -tjie after vowels and long-vowel l/n/r; -pie after m.
- The trap is -etjie: after a short vowel + single l, m, n, r or ng, use -etjie and double the consonant (man → mannetjie; ding → dingetjie, but ng keeps a single g).
- Unstressed -ing takes -kie and drops the g (koning → koninkie).
- Vowel length is the decider between -tjie (long) and -etjie (short) for l/m/n/r words — see also diminutive spelling.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- The Diminutive System: OverviewA1 — An introduction to the Afrikaans diminutive — the hugely productive -ie suffix family that conveys smallness, affection and softening, and is everyday adult speech.
- Diminutive Spelling: Apostrophes and DoublingA2 — Spelling the Afrikaans diminutive — the apostrophe after vowel-final loanwords (foto'tjie), consonant doubling in -etjie forms (mannetjie), and the ng-to-nk shift in koninkie.
- Irregular and Lexicalised DiminutivesB1 — Some diminutives change their stem vowel or consonant, and many have hardened into independent words with meanings the base noun never had — koppie is a hill, broodjie is a sandwich.
- What Diminutives Mean: Smallness, Affection, PragmaticsB1 — The diminutive in Afrikaans does far more than mark smallness — it carries affection, politeness, softening, intimacy, and dismissal, making it a core rapport device.