Diminutives in -че / -ичка / -енце
Diminutives
Diminutives mean small or dear: град → градче (small town), куќа → куќичка (little house), дете → детенце (little child). Имаат куќичка покрај езерото.
How It Works
Which ending.
- Masculine → -че (neuter): град → градче, стол → столче, камен → каменче
- Feminine in -а → -ичка or -ка (feminine): куќа → куќичка, маса → масичка
- Neuter in -е → -енце (neuter): дете → детенце, куче → кученце, пиле → пиленце
- Neuter in -о → -це: село → селце, дрво → дрвце
Gender and articles. Words in -че and -енце are neuter, so they take -то and neuter adjectives: малото градче, детенцето. Their plural often ends in -чиња: градчиња, столчиња. See neuter nouns and neuter plurals.
Small or dear. A diminutive can simply mean something is small. It can also show warmth, especially with children, animals and food: Какво слатко кученце! Ајде на едно кафенце! (Let's go for a coffee!) Here the coffee is not small; the word just sounds friendly.
Learn them as words. Some diminutives have their own meaning. Девојче is simply the everyday word for "girl". The opposite of a diminutive is an augmentative such as кучиште; see augmentatives.
Examples (6)
- Живеам во едно мало градче на југ.
I live in a small town in the south.
Word by Word: I-live in one small town(dim) on south.
- Имаат куќичка покрај езерото.
They have a little house by the lake.
Word by Word: They-have little-house beside lake-the.
- Детенцето спие.
The little child is sleeping.
Word by Word: Little-child-the sleeps.
- Седни на столчето.
Sit on the stool.
Word by Word: Sit on little-chair-the.
- Какво слатко кученце!
What a sweet little puppy!
Word by Word: What-kind sweet little-dog!
- Ајде на едно кафенце!
Let's go for a coffee!
Word by Word: Come-on on one little-coffee!
The diminutive makes the invitation sound warm and friendly.
Common Mistakes
Giving a -че diminutive the masculine article.
Градчеот е многу убав.Градчето е многу убаво.Градче is neuter, even though град is masculine. Use -то and a neuter adjective.
Using a masculine adjective with a -че noun.
Живеам во мал градче.Живеам во мало градче.The adjective must match the neuter noun градче: мало, not мал.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Diminutives build on neuter plurals and noun suffixes.
Related Patterns
- Augmentatives in -иштеAugmentatives
Augmentatives are the opposite: they make things big or rough.
Level 5 - Neuter Nouns in -о / -еNeuter Nouns
Diminutives in -че and -енце are neuter nouns.
Level 1 - -от / -та / -то / -теThe Definite Article
Diminutives take the article of their new gender: градчето.
Level 1 - колку е убаво / каков убав денExclamations
Diminutives often appear in warm exclamations: Какво слатко кученце!
Level 4
Words in This Pattern
Practice Diminutives in -че / -ичка / -енце in Bubblegum
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