Diminutives

01

Masculine: -ić and -čić

Masculine nouns usually add -ić (or -čić after certain consonants). The diminutive stays masculine.

• kolač (cake) → kolačić (cookie)
• stol (table) → stolić (little table)
• prozor (window) → prozorčić (little window)

• Pojeo sam jedan kolačić.

  I ate one cookie.

02

Feminine: -ica

Feminine nouns add -ica (often -čica). Feminine diminutives fill the food vocabulary.

• čokolada (chocolate) → čokoladica (candy bar)
• vreća (sack) → vrećica (small bag)
• knjiga (book) → knjižica (booklet)

• Trebam jednu vrećicu.

  I need one small bag.

03

Neuter: -ce

Neuter nouns typically take -ce.

• selo (village) → seoce (small village)
• jezero (lake) → jezerce (small lake)

04

Affection and Politeness

Beyond size, the diminutive softens the tone. A host offers you a kavica rather than a plain kava, and parents speak to small children almost entirely in diminutives. It makes a sentence sound friendlier, not more precise.

• Hoćeš li jednu kavicu?

  Would you like a little coffee?

• Daj mi malo vodice.

  Give me a little water.

Family words get the same treatment: brat (brother) becomes braco, a fond "little brother".

• Braco, donesi mi još jednu šalicu čaja.

  Little brother, bring me another cup of tea.

05

When the Meaning Has Drifted

Some diminutives have become words in their own right and no longer mean "a small X". kolačić is simply a cookie, not "a little cake"; djevojčica is the ordinary word for a young girl.

• Ona ima jednu djevojčicu.

  She has one little girl.

• Volim kolačiće s čokoladom.

  I like cookies with chocolate.

06

Names Take Diminutives

First names are constantly turned into affectionate short forms among family and friends, where the full name can sound stiff.

• Ana → Anica
• Ivan → Ivica
• Marija → Marica

• Bok, ja sam Ivica.

  Hi, I am Ivica.

07

Even Small Words Shrink

The habit of making diminutives reaches beyond nouns. The adverb malo (a little) has the coaxing diminutive malko / malkice (a tiny bit), used to make a request gentler still.

• Pričekaj malo.

  Wait a little.

• Daj mi malkice.

  Give me a tiny bit.