Special endings: ísimo/a and ito/ita



Special endings: ísimo/a and ito/ita

When you would use “very,” “most” or “extremely” with an adjective in English, the ending -ísimo (and the variations -ísima, -ísimos and -ísimas) often can be added to an adjective in Spanish.

If adjective ends in a vowel, the appropriate -ísimo ending replaces the final vowel.

Ése es un león grande. Ése es un león grandísimo.

El oso era pequeño. El oso era pequeñísimo.

If adjective ends in -ble, change -ble to -bil and add the appropriate –ísimo.

Ese malabarista era amable. (That juggler was nice).

Ese malabarista era amabilísimo.

Adjectives with an accent mark lose the accent mark when an -ísimo ending is added.

Las trapecistas eran rápidas. (The trapeze artists were fast).

Las trapecistas eran rapidísimas.

Attach the appropriate form of -ísimo/a directly to the end of adjectives that end in a consonant, but first remove any plural ending before adding -ísimo/a.

Era fácil jugar con los payasos. (It was easy to play with the clowns).

Era facilísimo jugar con los payasos.

La banda tocaba cosas difíciles. (The band played difficult things).

La banda tocaba cosas dificilísimas.

Adjectives that end in -co/-ca, -go/-ga or -z require a spelling change when a form of -ísimo is added.

c −− qu: cómico −− comiquísimo

g −− gu: larga −− larguísima

z −− c: feliz −− felicísimo

Similarly, you can add another set of endings to a noun to show affection or to indicate that someone or something is small. The most common of these endings is a form of -ito (-ita, -itos, -itas), which usually replaces the final vowel of a noun.

Other diminutive endings include -cito (-cita, -citos, -citas), -illo (-illa, -illos, -illas), -uelo (-uela,-uelos, -uelas) and -ico (-ica, -icos, -icas). Like all adjectives, these endings must match the gender and number of the noun. Try to become familiar with as many variations as you can since

the endings vary from person to person and from country to country.

-ito: oso −− osito

-cito: león −− leoncito

-illo: payaso −− payasillo

-uelo: pollo −− polluelo

-ico: gato −− gatico

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