Augmentative suffixes azo, ón, ote

Amigazo, dormilón, grandote

Augmentative suffixes express a big dimension of an object, or our personal attitude to an object as something big.

azo

This suffix has two different meanings.

a. augmentative grade

amigo – amigazo

gol – golazo

beso – besazo

pierna – piernaza

mano – manaza

cuerpo – cuerpazo

perro – perrazo

atasco – atascazo

dedos – dedazos

In this case word’s endings depend on the gender of the basic word.

ojo – ojazo

ojos – ojazos

pierna – piernaza

piernas – piernazas

¡Qué golazo, dios mío! – What a great goal, good lord!

Le dio un besazo y salió – He gave her a big kiss and went out

Hubo un atascazo de dos horas – There was a huge traffic jam for two hours

Es un gustazo conocerte – It’s a big pleasure to meet you

Try it yourself:

amiga – …

coche – …

casa – …

manos – …

b. a strike

The azo suffix can mean hitting with an object, which forms the word.

puño – puñetazo

codo – codazo

rodilla – rodillazo

zapato – zapatazo

freno – frenazo

puerta – portazo

martillo – martillazo

látigo – latigazo

flecha – flechazo

chancla – chancletazo

In this case the word’s gender is always masculine. It will only end in o or os.

Me despertaron unos martillazos del piso vecino – I was awakened by some hammer blows from the neighbour’s flat

Anoche escuché gritos y botellazos – At night I heard screams and broken bottle sounds

El tren iba llenísimo. Recibimos muchos codazos – The train was full. We got many nudges

There is a common Spanish phrase echar un vistazo. It means to take a look. Echar un vistazo quite often comes with the dative pronoun le, meaning at it.

¿Puedo echar un vistazo? – May I take a look?

Tienes que echarle un vistazo – You should take a look at it

ón

This is another suffix, which changes words to the augmentative form.

soltero – solterón

bueno – bonachón

taza – tazón

nube – nubarrón

cuchara – cucharón

apagar – apagón

parar – parón

tonto – tontón

cabeza – cabezón

gordo – gordinflón

llorar – llorón

dormir – dormilón

preocuparse – preocupón

Héctor es un bonachón – Hector is a good-natured guy

Viene un nubarrón – There comes a thundercloud

Try it yourself:

You are a crybaby

Yesterday we had a blackout

Why does my husband call me fatty?

ote

This suffix is used less often, than the previous two. However, it’s very suitable for some Spanish nouns and adjectives.

grande – grandote

abrazo – abrazote

muchacho – muchachote

amigo – amigote

Elvira salió con su amigote – Elvira went out with her buddy

¡Qué grandote estás! – How big you are!