When you want to make a diminutive in Spanish, a little change can make a big difference. To indicate that something is “small” or “little” in Spanish, you add a few letters, called a suffix, to the end of the noun. With that suffix, you create a diminutive, and people know that you’re talking about something or someone small.
The suffixes you add to the words are ito (ee-toh) for a masculine noun and ita (ee-tah) for a feminine noun.
A boy niño (nee-nyoh) (boy/child) turns little when you add the ito suffix to form niñito (neenyee-toh) (little boy/child). The same holds true for girls: a niña (nee-nyah) (girl/child) becomes a niñita (neenyee-tah) (little girl/child).
