The Animated Book
of SpanishGrammar Reference

The Spanish Suffix -ísimo

Adapted from The Animated Book of Spanish, an interactive Spanish grammar book.

Add -ísimo to an adjective and it means very or extremely: caro (expensive) → carísimo (really expensive). It's one of the most common ways to add emphasis in everyday Spanish.

  • La comida estaba riquísima.

    The food was delicious.

  • Ese hotel es carísimo.

    That hotel is really expensive.

  • Muchísimas gracias.

    Thank you so much.

On this page

How to form it

If the adjective ends in a vowel, drop the vowel and add -ísimo. If it ends in a consonant, just add -ísimo.

  • Ends in a vowel: drop it
  • caroexpensive
    ,
    carísimoreally expensive
  • guapogood-looking
    ,
    guapísimoreally good-looking
  • grandebig
    ,
    grandísimohuge
  • buenogood
    ,
    buenísimoreally good
  • Ends in a consonant: just add it
  • fácileasy
    ,
    facilísimoreally easy
  • difícilhard
    ,
    dificilísimoreally hard
  • útiluseful
    ,
    utilísimoreally useful

  • El examen fue facilísimo.

    The test was really easy.

  • Tu hermano es guapísimo.

    Your brother is really good-looking.

  • Tienen una casa grandísima.

    They have a huge house.

It matches the noun

Like any adjective, an -ísimo word matches its noun in gender and number: -ísimo, -ísima, -ísimos, -ísimas.

Masculine
  • un día larguísimoa really long day
  • unos precios altísimosreally high prices
Feminine
  • una cena riquísimaa delicious dinner
  • unas playas bellísimasreally beautiful beaches

  • Estoy cansadísima.

    I’m exhausted.

  • Estamos contentísimos con la casa nueva.

    We’re really happy with the new house.

  • Las entradas eran carísimas.

    The tickets were really expensive.

Spelling changes

A few endings change their spelling to keep the same sound before the i. It's the same reason Spanish writes qu and gu.

  • c → qu
  • ricotasty, rich
    ,
    riquísimodelicious, really rich
  • pocolittle
    ,
    poquísimovery little
  • g → gu
  • largolong
    ,
    larguísimoreally long
  • z → c
  • felizhappy
    ,
    felicísimoreally happy
  • -ble → -bil
  • amablekind
    ,
    amabilísimoreally kind

Muchísimo, tardísimo…

-ísimo also works with mucho and poco, and with some adverbs.

  • muchísimoa lot, very much
  • poquísimovery little
  • tardísimoreally late
  • prontísimoreally soon
  • cerquísimareally close
  • lejísimosreally far

  • Te quiero muchísimo.

    I love you so much.

  • Anoche llegamos tardísimo.

    We got home really late last night.

  • La playa está cerquísima del hotel.

    The beach is really close to the hotel.

Common mistakes English speakers make

  1. Adding muy

    Incorrect:Es muy buenísimo.
    Correct:Es buenísimo.

    -ísimo already means very.

  2. Forgetting c → qu

    Incorrect:La sopa está ricísima.
    Correct:La sopa está riquísima.

    Before i, a hard c is spelled qu.

  3. Forgetting g → gu

    Incorrect:El viaje fue largísimo.
    Correct:El viaje fue larguísimo.

    Before i, a hard g is spelled gu.

  4. Keeping the old accent

    Incorrect:El examen fue fácilísimo.
    Correct:El examen fue facilísimo.

    The stress moves to -ísimo, so only that accent stays.

  5. Not matching the noun

    Incorrect:Las playas son bellísimos.
    Correct:Las playas son bellísimas.

    Playas is feminine and plural, so it's -ísimas.

Questions about -ísimo

What does -ísimo mean in Spanish?

It means "very" or "extremely." Add it to an adjective to make it stronger: caro (expensive) → carísimo (really expensive), bueno → buenísimo (really good).

How do you add -ísimo to an adjective?

If the adjective ends in a vowel, drop the vowel and add -ísimo: guapo → guapísimo. If it ends in a consonant, just add it: fácil → facilísimo. The stress moves to the í, so any other written accent disappears.

Does -ísimo change for gender and number?

Yes. Like any adjective, it matches the noun: -ísimo, -ísima, -ísimos, -ísimas. Una cena riquísima, unos precios altísimos.

What is the difference between muy and -ísimo?

They mean nearly the same thing. Carísimo is a little stronger and more expressive than muy caro, and it's very common in everyday speech. Use one or the other, never both: not muy carísimo.

Why is it riquísimo and not ricísimo?

To keep the hard c sound. Before i, c would sound like s, so it's spelled qu: rico → riquísimo. The same happens with g → gu (largo → larguísimo).

Next upDiminutivesCasita, cafecito, poquito: -ito, -cito, and -ecito, spelling changes, and what diminutives really mean.

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