pececito
/peθeθito/from spelling rules
The English phrase "little fish" is translated into Spanish as pececito.
The term is used to refer to a small fish, whether describing a young fish or used as a term of endearment.
What does it mean word for word?
The word is formed by adding the diminutive suffix -cito to the noun pez.
Which one should you use?
While pececito is the standard term, the informal term pescadito can also be used to mean little fish.
How does it change in a sentence?
Use pececita to refer specifically to a little female fish, and use the plural form pececitos when referring to multiple little fish.
How do you pronounce it?
/peθeθito/
Did you know?
- While pececito is the diminutive of pez, the word for 'fish' changes its base entirely to pescado when it is no longer in the water and is considered food. This means a 'little fish' being eaten is almost always a pescadito rather than a pececito.
- The phrase pez gordo is the opposite of pececito, literally meaning 'fat fish' but used to describe a powerful or influential person.
- The diminutive -cito in pececito can sometimes be used ironically to describe something that is actually very large, acting as a form of sarcasm.
Examples in context
- Me gusta observar los pececitos en el acuario.I enjoy watching the little fish in the aquarium.
- El río está lleno de peces pequeños.The river is full of little fish.
- Vamos a pescar pescaditos en el lago.Let's go fishing for little fish in the lake.
- Qué lindos pescadillos tienes en tu acuario.You have such cute little fish in your aquarium.
- Mira ese pececito de colores.Look at that little colorful fish.
- El pececito nada muy rápido.The little fish swims very fast.
- Traje un pececito para el acuario.I brought a little fish for the aquarium.
Example conversation
Javier and Sofía are at an aquarium looking at a tank.
- Javier¿Viste aquel pececito naranja?Did you see that little orange fish?
- SofíaSí, es muy bonito, Javier.Yes, it is very pretty, Javier.
- JavierParece muy feliz en su estanque.It looks very happy in its tank.
- SofíaEs verdad, es un pececito muy activo.That's true, it is a very active little fish.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
