One of the characteristic richnesses of Spanish, especially in R1, is its use of suffixes which can express a wide range of affective notions (size, affection, disapproval, irony, etc). Some stems and suffixes are so firmly associated that they form words in their own right, eg bolita =berry, telón = (theatre) curtain, parrilla = grill, camarín (m) = dressing room, caballete (m) = easel, hoyuelo =dimple.

In Mexico, the -ito suffix is extremely frequent, and many very common nouns, such as agüita, casita, cochecito, pancita and solito regularly take the suffix without any implication regarding size.

Affective suffixes are used most often with nouns and adjectives, although the use of -ito/a extends to past participles used adjectivally and even to adverbs:

1. Está completamente dormidito

2. He's sound asleep

3. Hay que hablar bajito

4. You must speak really quietly

5. Lo haré en seguidita

6. I'll do it right away

7. †¡Ahorita! (used regularly in the sense of Pen ahora in Central America)

note: the attachment of some suffixes (the main ones are -ín, -ete, -ón and -azo) to noun stems may lead to a change in gender from feminine to masculine, eg novela (f), but novelón (m).

-ito/a (also -(e)cito/a)

This is one of the commonest suffixes, especially in Latin America.