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Chapter 13: Suffissi -ino, -etto, -accio

Suffixes are used to change the meaning of a noun. To add a suffix, you need to remove the last vowel of the noun and then add the necessary suffix.

The suffissi -ino/a e –etto/a indicate something small and cute.

Gatto → gatt-ino

Vecchio → vecchi-etto

The suffisso -one is used to indicate something big. When a noun is changed with –one it always become masculine.

Il libro → il libr-one

La strada → lo strad-one

The suffisso -accio/a is used to indicate something negative and/or ugly.

Parola → parol-accia

Libro → libr-accio

Some nouns, such as il lavandino, il postino, il berretto, il lampone appear to be modified, but they aren’t.  

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Intermediate Italian Grammar, Volume 1 Copyright © by Daniela Pozzi Pavan and Daniele Biffanti. All Rights Reserved.