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Ch. 4a Special Endings: ísimo/a and ito/ita. How to Add Special Endings. Adding an ending to an adjective or noun can have special significance in Spanish.
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How to Add Special Endings • Adding an ending to an adjective or noun can have special significance in Spanish. • Where you use very, most or extremely with an adjective in English, the ending ísimo often can be added to an adjective in Spanish. • Adjectives that end in a vowel, drop that vowel and then the appropriate form of the ísimo ending usually replaces the final word.
Examples • Ése es un léon grande – that is a big lion. • Ése es un léon grandísimo- that is a really big lion. • La casa es pequeña.- The house is small. • La casa es pequeñísima.- The house is extremely small. • Esos leones son grandes. • Esos leones son grandísimos. • Las casas son pequeñas. • Las casas son pequenísimas.
Adjectives • Adjectives which end in –c, -g and –z undergo a spelling change before adding the ísimo ending. • Este hombre es rico. • Este hombre es riquísimo. The c changed to a qu. • La película es larga. • La película es larguísima. The g changed to a gu. • Un tigre es feróz. • Un tigre es ferocísimo. The z changed to a c.
Adjectives with Accent Marks • Adjectives with an accent mark lose the accent when an ísimo ending is added. • Examples: • Las matemáticas son difíciles. • Las matemáticas son dificilísimas.
Attaching Endings • Attach the appropriate form of ísimo (ísima, ísimos, ísimas) directly to the end of adjectives that end in a consonant, but first remove any plural ending before adding the suffix.
Examples • Es fácil jugar con los muñecos. It is easy to play with the action figures. • Es facilísimo jugar con los muñecos. • It is very easy to play with the action figures. • La banda toca canciones difíciles. • The band plays difficult songs. • La banda toca caciones dificilísimas. • The band plays extremely difficult songs.
Other Endings • You can add another set of endings to a noun or adjective to show affection or to indicate that someone or something is small. The most common of these endings is a form of ito (ita, itos, itas), which replaces the final vowel of a noun. • Examples: • hermano hermanito • abuela abuelita • perros perritos • casas casitas
Spelling changes • Change the c to a qu before adding a form of the suffix ito: • Examples: chico chiquito chica chiquita chicos chiquitos chicas chiquitas