Free Spanish Lesson 51 – “Huevitos”

In Spanish, they do a fun thing with the language. They have what’s called the “ito”/”ita” suffix.

For those of you who have been out of high school or college too long to remember, a suffix is a word ending. In Spanish you can add this suffix to any noun (remember a “noun” is a person, place, or thing). When you add “ito” or “ita” to a noun, it means “little”. For example the word “casa” means “house” and the word “casita” means “little house”.

The word “gato” means “cat” and the word “gatito” means “little cat”. And finally, the word “papel” means “paper” and the word “papelito” means “little piece of paper”.

As you can see, the “ito”/”ita” ending means “little” and is very useful. But, this fun “suffix” or “word ending” also has another meaning. I had hundreds of experiences that reinforced the meaning, but here is the experience that opened my eyes to the “other” meaning.

Vocabulario semanal – Weekly Vocabulary

con el idioma – with the language

lo que se llama – what’s called

una terminación de una palabra – a word ending

a cualquier sustantivo – to any noun

significa – it means

como puede ver – as you (formal) can see

y es muy útil – and is very useful

otro significado – another meaning

el significado – the meaning

que abrió mis ojos – that opened my eyes

le dije acerca de – I told you (formal) about

y como desayuné y cené – and how I ate breakfast and I ate dinner

panes frescos – fresh bread (rolls)

en el panadero – at the (bread) bakery

nadando en aceite – swimming in oil

huevos – eggs

aquí están sus huevitos – here are your little eggs

en nuestros platos – on our plates

y dije – and I said

me miró – she looked at me

(ella) contestó – she answered

cariño – caring

lo que había dicho – what I had said

entonces empecé a escuchar – so I started to listen

me di cuenta que – I realized that

aprendí que – I learned that

la palabra – the word

aunque – even though

obviamente – obviously

y me divertí mucho con ello – and I had a lot of fun with it

en una manera divertida – in a fun way

después de esa experiencia – after that experience

lo que aprendí – what I learned

One morning Mrs. Silva brought in our breakfast. First she brought in fresh baked rolls that she would get at the bakery every morning as well as a breakfast drink. Then she brought in a pan with eggs swimming in oil.

That is how she would cook fried eggs – she would put two to three inches of oil in a pan and then put in the eggs and they seemed to “swim” in the large amount of oil. Anyway, as she brought in the eggs, she said in Spanish, “Here are your huevitos”. In Spanish, eggs are “huevos” but she used the “ito”/”ita” suffix and called them “huevitos”.

As she put the eggs on our plates, I examined them carefully and said, “These aren’t smaller than normal eggs, why do you call them “huevitos”? She looked at me with a strange look and said “Of course they’re not smaller”. I then asked again, “so why do you call them ‘huevitos'”? She answered, in a sort of obvious tone, and told me it was because she made them with “cariño” which means “caring”.

I wanted to make sure I heard her correctly and said “So, since you made them with ‘cariño’ you call them ‘huevitos'”? She confirmed what I had said and I found that I was at the beginning of a good culture lesson where you make things like “eggs” with “caring”.

I wanted to make sure this wasn’t something that just the Silva family did, so I began to listen more carefully to how others spoke. I noticed that many people would call their grandmothers “abuelita” instead of “abuela”, even though their grandmothers weren’t necessarily “little”. I learned that “abuelita” is a way to say “grandmother” with “cariño” or “caring”.

The word for daughter is “hija” and many parents would call their daughters “hijita” even though they were full grown. Obviously they weren’t calling their daughters “little daughter” but “daughter” with “cariño” or “caring”.

I grew to love this fun “little” cultural and language difference and really had a lot of fun with it. I would tease Mrs. Silva in a fun way by adding “ito” or “ita” to everything for the next few days after that experience.

In summary, what I learned was that the “ito”/”ita” ending can be used to talk about “little” things, but it is also a term of endearment which shows “cariño” or “caring”.

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Written by David S. Clark President/Director, U.S. Institute of Languages. Copyright © 1999-2010 US Institute of Languages All rights reserved.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.