Diminutive Suffixes

Level 3

Add a diminutive suffix to make a noun small or dear: namas → namelis (little house), šuo → šuniukas (puppy), mama → mamytė (mommy).

How It Works

The main suffixes

  • -elis, -elė: namas → namelis (little house), knyga → knygelė (little book), vaikas → vaikelis (little child)
  • -ukas, -ukė (-iukas after a soft consonant): šuo → šuniukas (puppy), brolis → broliukas (little brother), Jonas → Jonukas
  • -utis, -utė: sesuo → sesutė (little sister), kava → kavutė (a nice little coffee)
  • -ytis, -ytė: mama → mamytė (mommy), katė → katytė (kitty)

Other suffixes exist too, such as -ėlis, -ėlė: arbatėlė (a nice cup of tea).

When people use them

Diminutives are much more common in Lithuanian than in English. You hear them when people talk to children and about pets, in songs, and in friendly offers of food and drink: Gal kavutės? (How about a little coffee?) Names get them too: Jonas → Jonukas, Ieva → Ievutė. Between adults, a diminutive can sound warm or playful; tone and context can also make it ironic or patronizing.

Endings

Masculine -elis, -utis, -ytis change like brolis (namelio, namelyje), -ukas like vyras (šuniuko, šuniuke), and the feminine forms like other -ė nouns (sesutės, sesutei). When you call someone: Mamyte! Sesute! See The First Declension, The Second Declension and Vocative Address.

Some are words of their own

A few diminutives have become everyday words: senelis means grandfather, and močiutė means grandmother.

Examples (6)

  1. Senelis gyvena mažame namelyje prie ežero.

    Grandpa lives in a little house by the lake.

    Word by Word: Grandfather lives in-small little-house by lake.

    namelis changes like brolis: the locative is namelyje.

  2. Kaimynai nusipirko šuniuką.

    The neighbours got a puppy.

    Word by Word: Neighbours bought puppy.

    šuniukas is built on the long stem šun- of šuo.

  3. Mano sesutė eina į pirmą klasę.

    My little sister is in first grade.

    Word by Word: My little-sister goes to first class.

    sesuo becomes sesutė, still feminine.

  4. Mamyte, ar galiu eiti į kiemą?

    Mommy, can I go out to the yard?

    Word by Word: Mommy, Q (I) can go to yard?

    The vocative of mamytė is mamyte.

  5. Gal norėtumėte kavutės?

    Would you like a little coffee?

    Word by Word: Maybe (you) would-like of-little-coffee?

    A friendly offer; kavutė is in the genitive after norėti.

  6. Vaikai skaito knygelę apie katytę.

    The children are reading a little book about a kitty.

    Word by Word: Children read little-book about kitty.

    Both feminine nouns keep feminine suffixes: knygelė, katytė.

Common Mistakes

  • Giving a feminine noun a masculine suffix.

    Vaikai skaito knygelį.
    Vaikai skaito knygelę.

    Knyga is feminine, so its diminutive is knygelė, and the accusative is knygelę.

  • Declining -elis like a third-declension noun.

    Prie namelies auga obelis.
    Prie namelio auga obelis.

    Diminutives in -elis change like brolis, so the genitive is namelio.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Diminutive SuffixesLevel 3

Learn This First

Diminutive suffixes create new nouns with ordinary masculine or feminine endings.