Diminutives & Augmentatives

Greek shrinks and enlarges a noun with a SUFFIX, and the commonest by far is -άκι: παιδί → παιδάκι, σπίτι → σπιτάκι, ψωμί → ψωμάκι, καφές → καφεδάκι. Two facts make it worth a rule rather than a word-list. First, GRAMMAR: -άκι makes the derived noun NEUTER whatever the base was, so ο καφές becomes το καφεδάκι and η πόρτα becomes το πορτάκι - and every article and adjective around it must follow. The two feminine diminutives, -ούλα (γάτα → γατούλα) and -ίτσα (ώρα → ωρίτσα), stay feminine. Second, MEANING: a diminutive is usually not about size at all but about tone - affection, politeness, understatement. «Ένα καφεδάκι;» offers a friendly coffee, not a small one; «μισή ωρίτσα» softens the wait rather than shortening it. Pulling the other way, the augmentative -άρα is ALWAYS feminine (κοιλιά → η κοιλάρα) and masculine -ακλας / -ούκλα enlarge in the same emphatic, informal register (άντρας → ο άντρακλας, χέρι → η χερούκλα). Recognise the base under the suffix and you can read a word you have never met.