Learn some common noun suffixes in Spanish
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
Intro |
|---|
| Michael: What are some noun suffixes in Spanish? |
| Cesar: And why are they useful to know? |
| Michael: At SpanishPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Sofia Soto Flores hears an unknown word. She asks her dad, Jorge Soto Aguilar (target-dad), |
| "What does "calmante" mean?" |
| Sofía Soto Flores: ¿Qué significa calmante? |
| Dialogue |
| Sofía Soto Flores: ¿Qué significa calmante? |
| Jorge Soto Aguilar: Significa "painkiller." |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Sofía Soto Flores: ¿Qué significa calmante? |
| Michael: "What does "calmante" mean?" |
| Jorge Soto Aguilar: Significa "painkiller." |
| Michael: "It means "painkiller."" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: A suffix is an affix that we place after the radical in a word; it changes the word meaning and can modify its grammar class. In this lesson, we'll be focusing on nouns. For example, in the conversation, Sofía asks: |
| Cesar: ¿Qué significa calmante? |
| Michael: "What does "calmante" mean?", to which Jorge replies: |
| Cesar: Significa "painkiller." |
| Michael: "It means "painkiller."". In this case, the Spanish noun: |
| Cesar: calmante |
| Michael: "painkiller", is a word formed by adding the suffix "-ante" to the verb: |
| Cesar: calmar |
| Michael: meaning "to relieve" or "to calm". The suffix "-ante" is added to the verb stem "calm-", resulting in the grammar class change as well. Let's see more examples. The Spanish noun: |
| Cesar: esperanza |
| Michael: meaning "hope", is formed by adding the suffix "-anza" to the verb stem "esper-". The verb is: |
| Cesar: esperar |
| Michael: meaning "to hope" or "to expect". |
| The same suffix is found in the Spanish feminine noun: |
| Cesar: enseñanza |
| Michael: meaning "education" or "teaching". It results from adding the suffix "-anza" to the verb stem "enseñ-" in the verb: |
| Cesar: enseñar |
| Michael: "to educate" or "to teach". |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ve learned that a suffix is an affix that we place after the radical in a word, changing its meaning, which can result in a grammar class modification. Now, let’s look at some examples. Our first example is: |
| Cesar: belleza |
| Michael: meaning "beauty". The Spanish noun in this case was formed by adding the suffix "-eza" to the radical "bell-" in the adjective: |
| Cesar: bello |
| Michael: which means "beautiful". In this example, there was a class change from an adjective to a noun by adding the suffix. The next example is: |
| Cesar: embarcadero |
| Michael: a noun meaning "pier", formed by adding the suffix "-dero" to the verb stem "embarc-" of the verb: |
| Cesar: embarcar |
| Michael: meaning "to embark". |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Diminutives and augmentatives are also formed by adding a suffix to a word. As we’re focusing on nouns, let’s check out some examples with this grammar class. First, a diminutive: |
| Cesar: casita |
| Michael: which is a noun meaning "small house", is formed by adding the diminutive suffix "-ita" to the radical "cas-" of the word: |
| Cesar: casa |
| Michael: "house". Let's see an example of an augmentative: |
| Cesar: talentazo |
| Michael: meaning a "great talent", formed by adding the augmentative suffix "-azo" to the radical "talent-" of the word: |
| Cesar: talento |
| Michael: meaning "talent". |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after Cesar focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how Sofia says "What does "calmante" mean?" |
| Cesar: ¿Qué significa calmante? |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Cesar: ¿Qué significa calmante? |
| Cesar: ¿Qué significa calmante? |
| Michael: And do you remember how Jorge says "It means "painkiller?"" |
| Cesar: Significa "painkiller." |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Cesar: Significa "painkiller." |
| Cesar: Significa "painkiller." |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: Some suffixes can add a pejorative (negative or offensive) meaning to a word, so it's important to be careful about those—for example: |
| Cesar: libraco |
| Michael: conveying the idea of a "worthless book", derived from the word "book": |
| Cesar: libro |
| Michael: by adding the suffix "-aco" to the radical "libr-". Another example: |
| Cesar: casucha |
| Michael: is a noun which conveys the idea of a "badly conserved little house", formed by adding the suffix "-ucha" to the radical of the word: |
| Cesar: casa |
| Michael: "house". |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Cesar: ¡Hasta la próxima! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
Comments
Hide