Diminutive noun forms: making things smaller and cuter

What is a diminutive?

In language structure, a diminutive (or diminutive form), is a form of a word used to describe smallness of the object or quality named, intimacy, or endearment. Diminutives are created by adding suffixes to a word.

Diminutives are not common in standard English, unlike many other languages, however diminutives of people's first names are often used, e.g. Maggie (from Margaret), Suzie (from Suzanne) or Jimmy (from James). Words like mummy (mom) and daddy (dad) are also common everyday examples of diminutive forms of nouns.

How do I form a diminutive in Croatian?

The Croatian language most commonly use suffixes -ić and -čić (in some dialects also -ek), for diminutives of masculine nouns, -ica for feminine nouns and names, and -ce, -ašce for neuter nouns. As always, there are exceptions to these rules, but we'll discuss those in a future blog entry.

Masculine examples	Feminine examples	Neuter examples
nos – nose nosić	žaba – frog žabica	pero – feather perce
miš – mouse mišić	sestra – sister sestrica	jezero – lake jezerce
sin – son sinčić	susjeda – neighbour susjedica	sunce – sun sunašce
vlak – train vlakić	krava – cow kravica	dijete – child djetešce

When are diminutives used in Croatian?

Diminutives are often used in Croatian when talking to your loved ones or cooing at babies. Using a silly baby voice while calling your boyfriend's nose a "nosić" makes you sound more Croatian. But please don't do it in public!