“Un momentito”: the diminutive is not about size
CEFR B2 · part 2
edumaterial's parts within the level. The European framework does not subdivide them.
“Quería que vinieras”: the tense drags the mood with itMatching the subjunctive to the main verb: present with present (“quiero que vengas”)…“Sin embargo”, “por tanto”, “en cambio”The connectors that hold an argument together, and what each one promises: “sin…“Serán las tres”: a future that is not about the futureUsing the future for a guess about now (“serán las tres”, “estará en casa”) and the…“Fue construido” or “estaba construido”Telling the action apart from the state it leaves behind: “la puerta fue cerrada a las…“Acabar de”, “acabar con”, “acabar por”Verbs whose meaning changes entirely with the preposition: “acabar de/con/por”, “dar…“Me alegro de que vengas”: feelings take the subjunctiveThe subjunctive after anything that reacts to a fact instead of reporting it: “me alegro…The rule, in three lines
-ito and -illo are almost never about size. They add affection (abuelita), politeness (un momentito), softening (está malito) and sometimes dismissal (un trabajillo). Size is the least of their jobs.
The usual slip. Reading them as «small» and missing the tone — or avoiding them altogether, which is not neutral: it lands as blunt.
Why it catches you out. English has almost no productive diminutive —“doggie” and little else— so this reads as baby talk to you, and it is not: “un momentito” is what a professional says on the phone. Not using them at all is a choice, and the choice sounds curt.