Spanish nouns

Number

Spanish has two grammatical numbers: singular and plural. The singular form is the lemma, and the plural is the marked form. Whether a noun is singular or plural generally depends on the referent of the noun, with singular nouns typically referring to one being and plural nouns to multiple. In this way, nouns differ from other Spanish words that show number contrast (i.e., adjectives, determiners, and verbs), which vary in number to agree with nouns. In the clause aquellos intentos buenos resultaron vanos 'those good attempts were in vain', for example, the head of the noun phrase subject (intentos) gives its plural number to the other elements in the noun phrase (the determiner aquellos and the adjective buenos). The plural number is also reflected in the form of the verb (the third-person plural resultaron) and the predicative complement (the plural adjective vanos).

Two or more nouns coordinated via the coordinator y 'and' are typically treated as plural for agreement purposes. In the noun phrase el lápiz y el bolígrafo rojos 'the red pencil and pen', for example, the adjective rojos is plural because the two singular nouns (el lápiz and el bolígrafo) are coordinated via y. In cases in which an adjective precedes the coordinated nouns, however, that adjective is usually in the singular form. For example, the adjective and both nouns are singular in the noun phrase enorme cuidado y precisión 'enormous care and precision'.

Some words are always grammatically plural. Much as the English nouns mathematics and eyeglasses, for instance, are always plural, the Spanish nouns las matemáticas 'mathematics' and las gafas 'eyeglasses' are always plural. Some of these nouns do not share their always plural status with their English counterparts. For example, las vacaciones is rare in the singular form, corresponding to both 'vacation' and 'vacations' in English. Many of the always plural nouns fall into specific semantic classes. For example, many are related to foods (e.g., comestibles 'groceries', espaguetis 'spaghetti'), amounts of money (e.g., emolumentos 'emoluments', finanzas 'finances'), and places (e.g., estribaciones 'foothills', exteriores 'exteriors'). Other Spanish nouns are always singular. Such nouns are often noncountable nouns, such as el caos 'chaos' and la grima 'disgust'.

Plural formation

A noun that ends in an unstressed vowel adds -s to form the plural. A noun that ends in a consonant (including y) adds -es to form the plural. For nouns that end in -z, the -z changes to -c- when the -es plural morpheme is added. The noun la luz 'light', for example, has the plural form las luces 'lights'. A noun that ends in a stressed vowel will add -s or -es to form the plural. Generally, nouns ending in -á, -é, and -ó add -s to form the plural, while nouns ending in -í and -ú can admit both variants (-s and -es) to form the plural. For example, el café 'café' has the plural form los cafés while the noun el tabú 'taboo' has the plural forms los tabús and los tabúes. Polysyllabic nouns that end in an -s following an unstressed vowel do not add an overt plural morpheme while other nouns ending in -s behave as expected for a noun ending in a consonant, adding -es to form the plural. For instance, the noun el jueves 'Thursday' has the plural form los jueves 'Thursdays'.

Loanwords

The formation of plurals for foreign words borrowed into Spanish do not always follow the same rules as more established Spanish nouns. As a general rule, borrowed words ending in a vowel (stressed or unstressed) will add an -s to the singular to form the plural. For example, the plural form of the English borrowing el interviú 'interview' is los interviús 'interviews'. English loanwords often keep their English plural forms in Spanish. For instance, el córner 'corner kick' has the plural form los córners 'corner kicks'. Many Latin nouns do not change in the plural at all (e.g., el confíteor 'confession' and los confíteor 'confessions') Some Latin nouns ending in -m may simply add -s to form the plural (e.g., el referéndum 'referendum' and los referéndums 'referenda/referendums'). Other Latin nouns ending in -m allow either an invariant plural form or a plural form ending in -s. For example, el quórum 'quorum' allows the plural forms los quórum and los quórums. Due to the influence of English, some plurals of Latin words in Spanish occasionally occur with the plural marker -a, as in los córpora 'corpora' and los data 'data', but such plural forms are disprefered by some prescriptivists that favor either invariant plurals (e.g., los corpus) or Hispanicized forms (e.g., los datos). Some loanwords enter Spanish in their plural forms but are reanalyzed as singular nouns (e.g., the Italian plurals el confeti 'confetti', el espagueti 'spaghetti', and el ravioli 'ravioli'). These words then follow the typical morphological rules of Spanish, essentially double marking the plural (e.g., los confetis, los espaguetis, and los raviolis).

Variation

In some varieties of Antillean Spanish, an additional -e or -es is added to the more traditional forms of certain plurals. For example, las cásase can be found in place of las casas 'houses'. Similarly, los güisquises can be found in place of los güisquis 'whiskies'.

In certain registers, nouns with plural referents can occur in the singular form when the plural is implied elsewhere, such as through the determiners mucho 'many' or tanto 'so many'. For example, a speaker might say mucha foto 'many photos' or tanto soldado 'so many soldiers' while a more formal register would require muchas fotos and tantos soldados, respectively.

While nouns ending in -í often allow either -s or -es to form the plural, more formal registers typically prefer the -es ending, especially in demonyms and the names of ethnic groups. For example, bengalí 'Bengali' can take the plural form bengalíes or bengalís, but bengalíes is typically preferred in more formal registers.

Affective suffixes

Suffixes expressing a wide range of affective meanings can be added to Spanish nouns. These affective meanings include size, affection, disapproval, irony, and the like. However, the meanings of nouns derived from these suffixes is not always predictable. For example, a diminutive form of el coche 'car' is el cochecito 'baby carriage' while the diminutive form of el carro 'car' formed from the same suffix is el carrito 'shopping cart'. Some Spanish nouns can take a large number of affective suffixes, creating words with subtle differences in meaning or connotation. For instance, chico 'boy' has the derived forms chicarrón, chicazo, chicoco, chicote, chicuelo, chiquete, chiquilín, chiquillo, chiquitico, chiquito, chiquitín and chiquituco, each with a subtle distinction in meaning.

Affective suffixes are derivational rather than inflectional, but they share certain properties with inflectional suffixes. Like inflectional suffixes, affective suffixes are so widespread that words created from them tend not to be included in traditional dictionaries except when the resulting words have drastically different meanings. Also like inflectional suffixes, affective suffixes do not typically change the grammatical category of the base word; that is, a noun that takes an affective suffix will remain a noun after doing so, much as a noun that takes a plural inflectional suffix will remain a noun after doing so. But unlike inflectional suffixes, affective suffixes tend to add lexical, rather than grammatical, information to the base.

Certain kinds of nouns tend to disallow affective suffixes. Nouns that denote characteristics, qualities, and physical or mental states belong to this category. For example, altura 'height', bondad 'kindness', equilibrio 'equilibrium', and alegría 'joy' generally do not take affective suffixes. Some exceptions exist. For instance, the diminutives dudita and pasioncilla (from duda 'doubt' and pasión 'passion', respectively) are attested. Similarly, noncount nouns are less likely than count nouns to take affective suffixes. In the clause me fue de poca ayuda 'he was of little help to me', for example, the noun ayuda 'help' is modified by the adjective poca 'little' instead of taking a diminutive suffix because the clause uses a noncount sense of the noun. In the clause le pidió una ayudita 'he asked for a little help', on the other hand, the diminutive form ayudita is possible because the clause uses a count sense of the noun.

Various sociolinguistic factors affect the use of affective suffixes. For instance, they are generally used more often by speakers of Mexican Spanish than by speakers of European Spanish or Rioplatense Spanish and more often by women than by men. Additionally, affective suffixes are more common in registers directed toward children but less common in highly formal registers, such as in academic, legal, and administrative writing.

Three classes of affective suffixes are traditionally distinguished: diminutives, augmentatives, and pejoratives (though the class of pejorative suffixes occasionally intersects with the other two).

Diminutive suffixes

Diminutive suffixes generally convey small size. They most often indicate size when applied to nouns referring to material entities. Applying the diminutive suffix -ita to casa 'house', for example, produces casita, which refers to a small house.

When diminutive suffixes are applied to nouns of other semantic classes, the suffix may convey additional or alternate meanings. Applying a diminutive suffix to nouns that refer to professions, for instance, often signals contempt, as in un maestrillo mediocre 'a mediocre teacher'. For nouns that denote actions and events, diminutive suffixes generally indicate short duration, as in paseíto 'short walk'.

The suffix -ito and its variants

The most common diminutive suffix is -ito and its variants -cito and -ecito (as well as their respective feminine forms -ita, -cita, -ecita). The form of -ito used in the diminutive depends on both the gender and the pronunciation of the noun, and different varieties of Spanish occasionally follow different patterns.

In general, the -ito variant is used with nouns ending in unstressed -a or -o. For instance, casa 'house' forms the diminutive casita, and libro 'book' forms the diminutive librito. Exceptionally, in European Spanish, nouns ending in unstressed -a or -o generally takes the -ecito variant when the noun consists of two syllables and the stressed syllable contains the diphthong ⟨ie⟩ or ⟨ue⟩, as in hierbecita (from hierba 'grass') and jueguecito (from juego 'game'). This exception tends not to be observed in the Spanishes of America, where diminutive forms in -ito, such as hierbita, are more common.

For nouns ending in unstressed -e, the variant used depends on the number of syllables in the base. When the base has three or more syllables, the -ito variant is used to form the diminutive. For example, aceite 'oil' forms the diminutive aceitito. When the noun ending in -e has fewer than three syllables, the diminutive is usually formed with the -ecito variant. For instance, aire 'air' forms the diminutive airecito.

Nouns ending in stressed vowels (specifically, -á and -é) typically form the diminutive with -cito. For example, té 'tea' forms the diminutive tecito. Nouns ending in stressed -í, -ó, and ú do not typically allow diminutives. For instance, tabú 'taboo' does not have a diminutive form *tabucito. Exceptionally, some dialects of Spanish do allow diminutive forms of these nouns for certain words, as in ajicito from ají 'chili' in Caribbean and Andean Spanish.

Monosyllabic nouns ending in consonants use different variants of -ito depending on the dialect. In Latin American Spanish, the -cito form is typically used while, in European Spanish, the -ecito form is generally used. But even in Latin American Spanish, monosyllabic nouns ending in -s and -z tend to use the -ecito form.

Polysyllabic nouns ending in -n and -r generally form diminutives with -cito, as in empujoncito from empujón 'push' and amorcito from amor 'love'. Diminutive suffixes are not typically added to polysyllabic nouns ending in -d. For instance, el césped 'lawn' does not have a diminutive form *el céspedito. Polysyllabic nouns ending in consonants other than -n, -r, and -d typically use -ito to form the diminutive, as in arrocito from arroz 'rice'.

The table below summarizes these typical patterns.

Generally, the diminutive suffix -ito is added to a noun more often than a noun is modified by chico 'small' or pequeño 'little'. Thus, una casita 'a small house' is generally encountered more often than una casa chica 'a small house'.

Regional diminutive suffixes

The choice of diminutive is often a mark of regional varieties and influence of coexistent Romance languages. The diminutive suffixes -ico/-ica, -iño/-iña and -ín/-ina, for example, are especially common in Asturias specifically and northwestern Spain more generally. They are also found in Argentina and Uruguay. The suffix -uco/-uca is often used in Cantabria. The suffix -illo/-illa is especially common as a diminutive in Andalusia and southern Spain more generally. In the Spanishes spoken in the Americas, however, -illo often also carries a pejorative connotations. The noun hombrecillo, for example, can be glossed as 'insignificant little man'. The suffix -ete is often used in Aragon, Valencia, and Catalonia. Other regional diminutive suffixes include -eto/-eta (used in Aragon) and -uelo/-uela.

Augmentative suffixes

Augmentative suffixes, such as the most frequently used -ón/-ona, generally convey large size. Compare, for instance, la silla 'chair' and the augmented el sillón 'armchair'. Because largeness sometimes carries negative overtones, augmentative suffixes sometimes carry negative associations, such as awkwardness, clumsiness, excess, and unpleasantness. For example, an augmented form of la soltera 'bachelorette' is the derogatory la solterona 'spinster'.

The augmentative suffix -azo is similar to -ón in that it is also often pejorative in addition to augmentative. An augmented form of las manos 'hands', for example, is las manazas 'clumsy hands'. However, -azo can also imply admiration or greatness. For instance, an augmented form of el éxito 'success' is el exitazo 'great success'.

The suffixes -ón and -azo have uses in addition to their uses as augmentative suffixes. These uses are not traditionally grouped with affective suffixes in grammars of Spanish and include deriving nouns and adjectives from verbs (such as abusón 'bully' and mirón 'voyeur') and forming nouns that denote a blow or sudden movement (such as flechazo 'arrow shot' and hachazo 'axe blow').

In Mexico and Central America, -ote is generally preferred over -azo. For example, the augmentative form of mano 'hand' is typically manota in Mexico and Central America but manaza elsewhere. Like with the diminutive suffix -ito, -ote takes variant forms in certain environments. For example, the variant -zote is used in the same contexts in which -ito would become -cito, such as when a polysyllabic noun ends in -n (as in camionzote from camión 'truck').

The suffix -aco is also augmentative.

Pejorative suffixes

Though diminutive and augmentative suffixes occasionally add pejorative meanings in addition to other affective meanings, certain suffixes add meaning that is primarily pejorative. These suffixes include the following:

• -aco/-aca, as in pajarraco from pájaro 'bird'.
• -acho/-acha, as in amigacha and picacho.
• -ajo/-aja, as in cintajo from cinta 'ribbon' and sombrajo from sombra 'shadow'.
• -astro/-astra, as in camastro from cama 'bed' and poetastro from poeta 'poet'.
• -ato/-ata, as in niñato 'immature child' and novato 'newbie'.
• -orrio/-orra, as in bodorrio from boda 'wedding' and villorrio from villa 'town'.
• -orro/-orra, as in abejerro from abeja 'bee' and vidorra from vida 'life'.
• -ucho/-ucha, as in animalucho from animal 'animal' and cuartucho from cuarto 'bedroom'.
• -ute, as in franchute (a derogatory term for a person from France).