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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*).

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### 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*).

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### 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*).

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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).

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Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

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)

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

Past tense of modal verbs

Question	Answer
the kitten	il gattino
the small table	il tavolino
The kitten sleeps on the small table.	Il gattino dorme sul tavolino.
Nobody found the kitten.	Nessuno ha trovato il gattino.
the puppy	il cagnolino
The puppy plays in the garden with a shoe.	Il cagnolino gioca nel giardino con una scarpa.
We looked for the puppy in front of the supermarket.	Abbiamo cercato il cagnolino davanti al supermercato.
There is nothing on the small table.	Non c'è niente sul tavolino.
We bought a new small table for the living room.	Abbiamo comprato un tavolino nuovo per il salotto.
the little brother	il fratellino
My little brother is always hungry.	Il mio fratellino ha sempre fame.
I bought a gift for my little brother.	Ho comprato un regalo per il mio fratellino.
the small bag	la borsetta
The lady left the keys in the small bag.	La signora ha lasciato le chiavi nella borsetta.
This small red bag costs a lot.	Questa borsetta rossa costa molto.
the small package	il pacchetto
The post office sent a small package to my house.	La posta ha spedito un pacchetto a casa mia.
Is there anything in the small package?	C'è qualcosa nel pacchetto?
the big book	il librone
The student bought a big boring book.	Lo studente ha comprato un librone noioso.
There is a big heavy book on the desk.	C'è un librone pesante sulla scrivania.
the big car	la macchinona
My uncle drives a big red car.	Mio zio guida una macchinona rossa.
Nobody wants to buy that big car because it costs too much.	Nessuno vuole comprare quella macchinona perché costa troppo.
the main door	il portone
The main door of the building is always closed.	Il portone del palazzo è sempre chiuso.
I waited in front of the main door of the school.	Ho aspettato davanti al portone della scuola.
the big boy	il ragazzone
That big boy always eats a lot of meat.	Quel ragazzone mangia sempre tanta carne.
Luca is a very nice big guy.	Luca è un ragazzone molto simpatico.
cute, pretty, nice	carino
The kitten is small and very cute.	Il gattino è piccolo e molto carino.
Your little brother is very cute.	Il tuo fratellino è molto carino.

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