Tiny Tim and Giant Jim

One of the fun features of Brazilian Portuguese is adding -inho or -ão to practically any noun to make it li'l noun or big noun, respectively. For example, (1) cafezinho (gkah-fae-'zee-ñoo -- little coffee) refers to the small drink served in bars, and (2) amigão (ah-mee-'guh-oong -- great friend), someone who brings you great joy, someone you can count on.

(reminder: please read the Pronunciation Key tab if you haven't already done so)

Formally, -(z)inho is called a diminutive, and -(z)ão, an augmentative. -inho primarily describes small things, but can also connote disdain, as in, (3) timinho (time + inho -- chee-'mee-ñoo -- little team), used to mock a weak or losing sports team.

On the other hand, -ão can refer to a great, or big thing, such as (4) paizão (pah-ee-'zuh-oong -- great dad) or (5) barrigão (bah-hee-'guh-oong -- big belly). Like -inho, -ão can be used derisively: (6) cabeção (gkah-beh-'suh-oong -- big head) means idiot.

-inho and -ão typically modify masculine nouns ana -inha and -ona, feminine ones. For example, (7) menininha (mee-nee-'nee-ñuh -- little girl) and (8) abelhona (ah-beh-'lyo-nuh -- big bee).

Note that there are feminine nouns that still take the masculine ending, -ão, like (9) cadeirão (gkah-deh-ee-'ttuh-oong) and (10) fitão (fee-'dtuh-oong). Sometimes genders are switched altogether, as in the novela (11) Fina Estampa's ('fee-nuh ehs-dtuhng-bpuh -- classy imprint) separated couple, the Pereiras. The man is called (12) Pereirinha (bpeh-tteh-ee-'ttee-ñuh), and the woman, (13) Pereirão (bpeh-tteh-ee-ttuh-oong). This gender swap openly reflects how Pereirão wears the pants (literally) in her job as handy(wo)man and shows her resolute, strong will, while Pereirinha idles away fishing.

Diminutives and augmentatives are often used to attribute cuteness, friendliness or respect to names. Consider (14) Ronaldo - Ronaldinho - Ronaldão (ho-'naoo-du - ho-nau-'jee-ñu - ho-nau-'duh-oong). A girl's name, Ana, could be cuter as (15) Aninha (uh-'nee-ñuh), and a boy like Zé could sound more imposing as (16) Zecão (zae-'gkuh-oong).

Get an ÃO overload watching this beer commercial. While the emphasis is on (17) cervejão (sehr-veh-'zhuh-oong -- grand beer), listen to the nouns that normally end with -ão, like (18) verão (veh-'ttuh-oong -- which can become verãozão) and (19) perfeição (bper-feh-ee-'suh-oong -- perfection)!

In this video, 0:19 - 0:24 has a nice superposition of an -inha diminutive with the -ão augmentative: (20) gatinha com ão (gah-'chee-ñuh gkoong 'uh-oong -- cutie with "ão", literally kitty with "ão"), (21) mulherão (moo-lyeh-'ttuh-oong -- a gorgeous, attention-grabbing, "great" woman)

Listen to the numbered phrases and words in this video: