Breakdown of El abuelo descansó un ratito con su nietito.
el abuelo
the grandfather
un
a, an (masculine)
su
his/her/its/their/your (formal)
descansar
to rest
con
with
el rato
while (period of time)
el nieto
grandson
Questions & Answers about El abuelo descansó un ratito con su nietito.
Why use ratito instead of just rato?
Rato means a while or a moment. By dropping the final vowel and adding the diminutive suffix -ito to make ratito, it emphasizes that it was a very short, cozy little break. It makes the statement sound more casual and friendly.
Does nietito mean the grandson is physically small?
It often means he is a young child, but Spanish speakers also use -ito heavily for affection. Even if the grandson is older, his grandfather might refer to him as his nietito simply as a loving term of endearment.
How do you know to add -ito instead of -cito to these words?
For most words ending in -o or -a, you just drop that final vowel and add -ito or -ita. So rato becomes ratito and nieto becomes nietito. Words ending in other letters, like consonants or -e, often take -cito instead.
Why is there an accent mark on descansó?
The accent mark tells you to stress the final syllable, which is the standard pattern for regular past tense (preterite) verbs for he, she, or it. Without the accent, descanso means I rest in the present tense, or the noun rest.
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