Diminutives

A waiter asking Ještě jedno pivečko? is not offering you a small beer. He is being friendly. Where English has a handful of diminutives (doggie, sweetie, booklet) and otherwise says "little", Czech forms them from almost any noun, and uses them less to describe size than to sound warm, friendly or polite.

The suffixes

The diminutive keeps the gender of the base noun. Many nouns have two degrees, the second even more affectionate:

Gender	Base	1st degree	2nd degree
M: -ek, -ík → -eček, -íček	dům chléb koš	domek chlebík košík	domeček chlebíček košíček
F: -ka → -ička, -ečka	ryba hlava kniha	rybka hlávka (of lettuce) knížka	rybička hlavička knížečka
N: -ko → -ečko, -íčko	pivo okno slovo	pivko okénko slůvko	pivečko - slovíčko

Watch the consonant and vowel changes: kniha → knížka (h → ž), ruka → ručka (k → č), kluk → klouček, dům → domek (ů → o).

Warmth, not size

Dáme si kafíčko? is an invitation to sit down together, not a promise of a tiny cup. Parents talk to children in diminutives (Dej mi ručičku, obleč si botičky), and so do shop assistants and nurses. First names have whole families of them: Jan becomes Honza, then Honzík or Honzíček; Marie becomes Mařenka, the heroine of Smetana's opera Prodaná nevěsta. Used too much, or to an adult in the wrong tone, diminutives turn condescending or ironic: Tak co, pane inženýrku? is not a compliment.

Diminutives that became their own words

Some forms have drifted away from the base and now simply name a thing:

• slovíčka - the vocabulary list you learn for school
• chlebíček - an open sandwich, the classic of every Czech celebration
• párek - a frankfurter, sold in pairs (pár), and also a young couple
• ručička - the hand of a clock
• okénko - also a counter window at the post office: u okénka číslo 3
• věneček - a choux-pastry ring from the cake shop

For these, the "small" meaning has gone. Ordering chlebíčky for a party gets you sandwiches, not little loaves of bread.