If you’re traveling “generally in the mines”,  

The state of Minas Gerais, that is:

-inho and -inha at the end of the word

Makes it diminutive

-inhos and -inhas if there’s more than one.  

And sometimes -zinha and -zinho

But I won’t get into the  

Wherefores and whys

Of adding the zed.



My wife, nee girlfriend, taught me this:  

Everything is made smaller here

Lest we offend or frighten.

If you want someone to stop by the house

For just a little while, you suggest a

Passadinha em  casa for

A cafézinho, literally

A tiny coffee, probably several.



Little João, Johnny, is Joãozinho

Little Maurice, Mauricinho, is a *******

A sobriquet insulting to the rich and useless.

You can have a cervejinha,

But while it may be small,

I guarantee it won’t be just one;

The diminutive here

Is only a manner of speaking.



Amorzinho means my little love,

My dearest one.

A bundinha  

Is a cute little ***.

Garfinho is a salad fork

Obviously, there are a lot of nuances

You'll need to work out.



To make things bigger add an -ão

And don’t worry how to pronounce it for now

(But it rhymes with “now,” kind of.)

So, a big piece of bread is a pãozão;

Pãozinho is more bite size.

A chunk is a pedação

A nibble is a pedacinho

A  Yorkie is a cachorrinho

While a Great Dane is a cachorrão,  

And also a guy who can’t keep it in his pants.



Tchauzinho is a little goodbye  

Not so big, like,

I’ll see you soon.

Rápido means fast

Rapidinho means really fast

Rapidão, too.  

Beijo is a kiss

Beijinho is a little kiss, a peck

Beijão is big kiss,

Not a French kiss;

It expresses affection,

Not necessarily love.



Tiozão is not a big uncle,

(Or maybe it could be?)

But can be a terrific uncle

Or a guy who tells dad jokes

Or a benefactor or a boomer

Or maybe a sugar daddy.

In language as in life,

Context is everything.