In Italian, you can change the size or feeling of a noun without using an extra adjective. By dropping the noun's final vowel and adding a suffix, you can make something small and cute, or large and imposing.
Small and Endearing: -ino
To describe something small or to show affection, add -ino (for masculine nouns) or -ina (for feminine nouns). For example, a cat (gatto) becomes a kitten (gattino), and a table (tavolo) becomes a small table (tavolino).
| The kitten sleeps on the small table. | Il gattino dorme sul tavolino. |
| The puppy plays in the garden with a shoe. | Il cagnolino gioca nel giardino con una scarpa. |
| My little brother is always hungry. | Il mio fratellino ha sempre fame. |
Small and Endearing: -etto
Another very common suffix for small things is -etto (masculine) or -etta (feminine). For example, a bag (borsa) becomes a small bag (borsetta).
| The lady left the keys in the small bag. | La signora ha lasciato le chiavi nella borsetta. |
| The post office sent a small package to my house. | La posta ha spedito un pacchetto a casa mia. |
Large and Imposing: -one
To describe something as unusually large, drop the final vowel and add -one (masculine) or -ona (feminine). A book (libro) becomes a big book (librone), and a car (macchina) becomes a big car (macchinona).
| The student bought a big boring book. | Lo studente ha comprato un librone noioso. |
| My uncle drives a big red car. | Mio zio guida una macchinona rossa. |
Be aware that adding -one occasionally changes a feminine noun into a masculine one. For example, la porta (the door) becomes il portone (the main door/gate).
| The main door of the building is always closed. | Il portone del palazzo è sempre chiuso. |
| Luca is a very nice big guy. | Luca è un ragazzone molto simpatico. |
