May 23, 2020 by Rafael Parra Spanish Grammar 0 comments

Spanish Suffixes: The Trick to Speak Spanish Faster and More Fluently

Knowing Spanish suffixes is a great way to learn Spanish faster! Los sufijos are affixes that are placed after the stem of the word. For example, the English suffix “-ly” describes the way something is being done. You can behave badly or be greatly defined by your personality.

Learning sufijos will make speaking Spanish a lot easier. Two main categories of Spanish suffixes exist: derivational and inflectional. Let’s check them out!

Derivational Suffixes

In Spanish, los sufijos derivativos are added to the stem of the word to create a new word. There are a ton of derivational suffixes in Spanish! Many verbs, adjectives, nouns, and adverbs can become a new word by using these terminations.

Here are some examples of derivational Spanish suffixes:

-ote, -ota

Usage

Augmentative

Example 1

Vasote — big glass

Stem

Vaso — glass

Sentence

Tenía mucha sed y me serví un vasote con agua. — I was very thirsty so I poured myself a big glass of water.

Example 2

Casota — big house

Stem

Casa — house

Sentence

¡La fiesta del sábado será en una casota con un jardín adentro! — Saturday’s party will be at a big house with an indoor garden!

-ito, -ita

Usage

Diminutive

Example 1

Spanish suffixes — Image by Ambady Sasi from Pixabay

Pajarito — little bird, birdie

Stem

Pájaro — bird

Sentence

El pajarito aprendió a volar anteayer. — The little bird learned how to fly two days ago.

Example 2

Pequeñita — tiny

Stem

Pequeña — small

Sentence

La hormiga se sentía pequeñita al lado del elefante. — The ant felt tiny next to the elephant.

-ucho, -ucha

Usage

Pejorative

Example 1

Debilucho — weak

Stem

Débil — weak

Sentence

¡No te subas a ese andamio, está debilucho! — Don’t get on that scaffolding, it’s weak!

Example 2

Casucha — hovel

Stem

Casa — house

Sentence

La bruja malvada vivía en una casucha por el bosque. — The evil witch lived in a hovel by the forest.

-anza

Usage

Changes a verb into a noun

Example 1

Crianza — upbringing

Stem

Criar — to raise

Sentence

Mi papá me está enseñando a criar vacas y ovejas en la granja. — My dad is teaching me to raise cows and sheep on the farm.

Example 2

Confianza — trust (noun)

Stem

Confiar — trust (verb)

Sentence

Ella ganó mi confianza siendo amable y honesta. — She won my confidence by being kind and earnest.

-izar

Usage

Changes a noun into a verb

Example 1

Caramelizar — to caramelize

Stem

Caramelo — candy

Sentence

Voy a caramelizar estas manzanas para la fiesta de Día de Brujas. — I’m going to caramelize these apples for the Halloween party.

Example 2

Tapizar — upholster

Stem

Tapiz — tapestry

Sentence

Tapizar las paredes nos tomó el fin de semana completo. — Upholstering the walls took us the entire weekend.

-ble

Usage

Changes a word into an adjective describing capability

Example 1

Adorable — adorable

Stem

Adorar — to adore

Sentence

El osito de peluche es muy adorable. — The teddy bear is very adorable.

Example 2

Comestible — edible

Stem

Comer — to eat

Sentence

Prefiero que el cono de mi helado sea comestible. — I prefer my ice cream cone to be edible.

Example 3

Amable — kind

Stem

Amor — love (noun)

Sentence

El conductor de tren fue amable conmigo cuando expliqué mi situación. — The train conductor was kind to me when I explained the situation.

-mente

Usage

Changes an adjective into an adverb

Example 1

Amablemente — kindly

Stem

Amable — kind (adjective)

Sentence

El caballero amablemente dió su asiento al anciano. — The gentleman kindly gave his seat to the elder.

Example 2

Felizmente — happily

Stem

Feliz — happy

Sentence

Susana corrió felizmente por los pasillos después de recibir esa carta de amor. — Suzie ran happily through the hallways after receiving that love letter.

-ísimo, -ísima

Usage

Superlative

Example 1

Buenísimo — great

Stem

Bueno — good

Sentence

¡Este pastel de zanahoria está buenísimo! — This carrot cake is great!

Example 2

Inteligentísima — really smart

Stem

Inteligente — smart

Sentence

Mi gata, Laita, es inteligentísima. — My cat, Laita, is very smart.

More Derivative Suffixes

Suffix	Usage	Example	Translation
-arquía	describes a kind government	monarquía	monarchy
-azo	superlative	tipazo	great guy
-terapia	kind of therapy	teleterapia	teletherapy
-logía	field of study	psicología	psychology
-dor, -dora	describes a job	exploradora	explorer
-illo, -illa	diminutive	ventanilla	little window
-iguar	change word into a verb	apaciguar	to appease
-oso	change word into an adjective	polvoroso	dusty
-sión	change word into a noun	presión	pressure
-ción	change word into a noun	corrección	correction
-encia	change word into a noun	demencia	dementia
-cito, -cita	diminutive	pececito	little fish
-ez	abstract nouns	lucidez	lucidity
-aco	demonym	austríaco	Austrian
-teco	demonym	guatemalteco	Guatemalan
-ense	demonym	estadounidense	American
-ano	demonym	peruano	Peruvian
-eño	demonym	sureño	southern
-és	demonym	francés	French
-cracia	describes power	democracia	democracy
-ezno	diminutive	lobezno	wolf cub

Inflectional Spanish Suffixes

Los sufijos flexivos are fewer and easier to understand. Rather than creating a new word, inflectional suffixes change the gender and number of a word. If you’ve studied enough Spanish, you know that figuring out the right gender to use is random. Why do we say el agua instead of la agua? It’s normal to be confused about this, so check out our post on nouns in Spanish to learn some basic Spanish gender rules!

Here are some examples of inflectional suffixes:

-a

Usage

feminine singular suffix

Example 1

Gata — cat (feminine)

Sentence

Mi gata, Alicia, siempre rasguña las cortinas. — My cat, Alicia, always scratches the drapes.

Example 2

Pluma — feather

Sentence

Tengo una pluma de pavorreal en mi sala. — I have a peacock feather in my living room.

-o

Usage

masculine singular suffix

Example 1

Gato — cat (masculine)

Sentence

Mi gato, Toby, es negro. — My cat, Toby, is black.

Example 2

Seguro — safe

Sentence

Mi nuevo carro es muy seguro. — My new car is quite safe.

-e

Usage

Genderless suffix

Example 1

Presidente — president

Sentence

Ella será la primer mujer presidente. — She’ll be the first woman president.

Example 2

Cantante — singer

Sentence

Él practica para ser cantante. — He practices to become a singer.

-as

Usage

Feminine plural suffix

Example 1

Señoras — ladies

Sentence

Las señoras del lado juegan cartas los martes. — The ladies next door play cards on Tuesdays.

Example 2

Semillas — seeds, nuts

Sentence

Las semillas de marañón son mis favoritas. — Cashew nuts are my favorite.

-os

Usage

Masculine plural suffix

Example 1

Perros — dogs (masculine)

Sentence

Mi amiga tiene cinco perros — My friend has five dogs.

Example 2

Caballeros — gentlemen

Sentence

Los caballeros de la mesa seis pidieron más salsa picante. — The gentlemen at table six asked for more hot sauce.

-es

Usage

Masculine / neutral plural suffix

Example 1

Señores — gentlemen

Sentence

Buenas tardes, señores. Es un gusto verles. — Good afternoon, gentlemen. It’s a pleasure to see you.

Example 2

Elefantes — Elephants (neutral)

Sentence

Los elefantes mamá cuidan a sus bebés. — Elephant moms take care of their babies.

-s

Usage

Neutral plural suffix

Example 1

Bote — boat

Sentence

Mi bote de pesca es pequeño. — My fishing boat is small.

Example 2

Cumbre — summit

Sentence

Desde la cima de este volcán puedo ver las cumbres vecinas. — From the top of this volcano I can see the neighboring summits.

Here’s a summary table of the inflectional suffixes we saw today!

Suffix	Gender	Number	Example	Translation
-a	feminine	singular	gata	cat (feminine)
-o	masculine	singular	gato	cat (masculine)
-e	neutral	singular	presidente	president
-as	feminine	plural	señoritas	ladies
-os	masculine	plural	caballeros	gentlemen
-es	masculine	plural	señores	gentlemen
-s	neutral	plural	botes	boats

Keep Practicing!

Spanish, like most things in life, is mastered through practice. Learning a new language can be tough, but it’s much easier if you have the right resources and teachers to help you along the way. If you’re interested in speaking Spanish from day one, try taking a free class at Homeschool Spanish Academy with a native Spanish speaker!

Want to learn more Spanish grammar? Check out these helpful posts!

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Rafael Parra

Freelance Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

A native Spanish speaker from Guatemala, I'm a psychology student, creative developer, and aspiring polymath who's always learning new things and improving as a person. I'm a nerd when it comes to language, education, and videogames. My goal is to practice all these disciplines in unison and make something great with my time.