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### Softening Adjectives (-ino and -etto)

In Italian, you can change the nuance of an adjective without using separate words like "very" or "a bit." By attaching a diminutive suffix like *-ino* or *-etto*, you soften the adjective to mean "rather," "-ish," or "a bit."

To alter an adjective, drop its final vowel and add the suffix, ensuring the new ending matches the gender and number of the noun it describes.

| Base Adjective | Suffix | Altered Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| basso | -ino | **bassino** | shortish / rather short |
| grasso | -etto | **grassetto** | chubby / plumpish |

Let's see how these diminutive suffixes are used to describe less-than-ideal romantic matches and awkward dates:

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### Expressing Dislike with Pejoratives (-accio)

When a date goes from slightly awkward to completely disastrous, you need stronger words. The pejorative suffix *-accio* adds a highly negative, ugly, or contemptuous meaning to an adjective, translating to "terribly," "incredibly," or "nasty."

It follows the exact same formation rules as the diminutive suffixes. Note that in Italian, these altered forms frequently function as nouns as well (for example, *bugiardo* means "liar", so *un bugiardaccio* becomes "a terrible liar").

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Adjective suffixes (-ino, -etto, -accio)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
suitor	il corteggiatore
shortish / rather short	bassino
plain-looking / rather ugly	bruttino
My new suitor is rather short and plain-looking.	Il mio nuovo corteggiatore è bassino e bruttino.
standoffish	freddino
That suitor was a disaster; he had a standoffish character.	Quel corteggiatore è stato un disastro; aveva un carattere freddino.
chubby	grassetto
I didn't like him because he was shortish and chubby.	Non mi è piaciuto perché era bassino e grassetto.
skinny / puny	magrolino
I met a skinny and plain-looking guy; what a disaster!	Ho incontrato un ragazzo magrolino e bruttino; che disastro!
oldish / elderly (affectionate)	vecchietto
a bit silly	stupidetto
He seemed oldish and a bit silly.	Sembrava vecchietto e stupidetto.
I don't know if he is oldish or just standoffish.	Non so se sia vecchietto o solo freddino.
I haven't seen him, but they told me he is chubby and a bit silly.	Non l'ho visto, ma mi hanno detto che è grassetto e stupidetto.
terribly lazy	pigraccio
incredibly boring	noiosaccio
I had a terribly lazy and incredibly boring boyfriend.	Avevo un fidanzato pigraccio e noiosaccio.
The movie we watched was incredibly boring and a bit silly.	Il film che abbiamo guardato era noiosaccio e stupidetto.
lying / terrible liar	bugiardaccio
nasty / really mean	cattivaccio
That man was a terrible liar and a nasty guy.	Quell'uomo era un bugiardaccio e un cattivaccio.
That skinny boy was a terrible bore.	Quel ragazzo magrolino era un noiosaccio.
I don't want to see that terrible liar anymore!	Non voglio più vedere quel bugiardaccio!
My new boyfriend is a lazy slob and hates to travel.	Il mio nuovo fidanzato è un pigraccio e odia viaggiare.
This boy is a mean guy and I hate him.	Questo ragazzo è un cattivaccio e io lo odio.
the fly	la mosca
A fly came in through the window.	Una mosca è entrata dalla finestra.
In the kitchen there was only a fly.	In cucina c'era soltanto una mosca.
the butterfly	la farfalla
A white butterfly landed on the flower.	Una farfalla bianca si è posata sul fiore.
Butterflies are more beautiful than flies.	Le farfalle sono più belle delle mosche.

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