Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Elas guardam a bonequinha no cantinho da mantinha. - They keep the little doll in the little corner of the little blanket.

Elas guardam a bonequinha no cantinho da mantinha.

They keep the little doll in the little corner of the little blanket.

Breakdown of Elas guardam a bonequinha no cantinho da mantinha.

of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)

Questions & Answers about Elas guardam a bonequinha no cantinho da mantinha.

Why is bonequinha spelled with qu instead of a c?

The base word is boneca (doll). If we just added -inha, it would be spelled bonecinha, and the c would make a soft 's' sound because it comes before an 'i'. To keep the hard 'k' sound from boneca, the spelling must change to qu when adding the diminutive suffix.

What are the base words for cantinho and mantinha?

They come from canto (corner) and manta (blanket). To make a noun diminutive, you usually drop the final vowel (o or a) and add -inho or -inha.

Do diminutive words always keep the gender of the original word?

Yes! Because canto is masculine, it becomes o cantinho, which is why we use no (a contraction of em + o). Manta is feminine, so it becomes a mantinha, and we use da (de + a). The suffix perfectly matches the original gender.

Why are there three diminutives in this one sentence?

While translating it as 'the little doll in the little corner of the little blanket' sounds like overkill in English, stacking diminutives is very natural in Portuguese. It gives the whole sentence a cute, cozy, and affectionate feeling, rather than just literally describing the physical size of the objects.