Augmentatives
Type the missing word in each sentence. You hear each sentence read by a native voice.
El asiento es un .
The seat is an armchair.
The rule
Where -ito makes something small or soft, these endings make it big, strong, or loud. An augmentative can mean sheer size (sillón, armchair), but it just as often adds force, admiration, or mockery. Recognising the base word under the ending turns words you have never studied into words you already know.
The pattern
Spanish has three common endings for bigness. Add them the way you add -ito: drop a final vowel, then attach the ending.
-ón / -ona marks size: silla becomes sillón (armchair), puerta becomes portón (gate, large door). Many -ón words have grown into ordinary nouns with their own meaning, and some change gender on the way: la silla, but el sillón; la puerta, but el portón.
-azo / -aza marks size or force: gol becomes golazo (a great goal), éxito becomes exitazo (a huge hit), coche becomes cochazo (an impressive car). -azo has a second job: a blow struck with the base word. Un portazo is a door slam, un codazo is a jab with the elbow, un puñetazo is a punch. Puerta and puño change shape slightly on the way (portazo, puñetazo).
-ote / -ota is the roughest of the three: grande becomes grandote (really big), libro becomes librote (a big heavy book), palabra becomes palabrota (a swear word).
These endings carry attitude as often as size, and the colouring can go either way. Un solterón is a confirmed bachelor, said with a smirk. Llorón (crybaby) and cabezón (stubborn) tease more than they measure. Grandote is usually warm, the way you would describe a big friendly dog. Golazo and exitazo are pure admiration. The ending opens the door; context and tone decide whether the word pats a shoulder or rolls its eyes.
Examples
- Mi abuelo lee el periódico en su sillónMy grandfather reads the newspaper in his armchair
- Salió enojado y cerró la puerta de un portazoHe left angry and slammed the door
- El jugador marcó un golazo en el último minutoThe player scored an amazing goal in the last minute
- La película fue un exitazoThe movie was a huge hit
- Su perro es grandote pero muy tranquiloHis dog is really big but very calm
- No digas palabrotas delante de los niñosDo not say swear words in front of the children
- Mi tío es un solterón que vive solo con su gatoMy uncle is a confirmed bachelor who lives alone with his cat
Watch out
- la sillón. el sillón.Feminine nouns often turn masculine with -ón: la silla, but el sillón.
- Cerró la puerta de un puertazo. Cerró la puerta de un portazo.Puerta changes its stem before -azo, the same shape as portero and portón.
- Mi hermana es llorón. Mi hermana es llorona.The -ón forms agree in gender: llorón for him, llorona for her.