Home
Q&A
Man calling girlfriend amorcito and precioso

Man calling girlfriend amorcito and precioso

3
votes

Using amorcito y precioso to describe woman. Why are masculine endings used?

31977 views
updated Feb 10, 2012
edited by 00070c0f
posted by 00070c0f

5 Answers

4
votes

It is because he is anthropomorphosizing the noun (giving it human characteristics, if I'm using the word correctly). You can say that someone is precious or that someone is lovely in Spanish, but it is very common to call someone the word love (amor). The nouns retain their masculinity.

I found out about this when I heard someone call a little girl, cariño, meaning affection.

We do the same thing when we call someone, sunshine or sugar, our words just don't have a gender.

updated Jun 23, 2011
edited by wenc3
posted by wenc3
Personify maybe? - Felixlynx, Jun 23, 2011
10
votes

"Amor", used pretty much like "darling" in English, is a masculine word, whether you use it for a man or a woman. Similarly, "persona" is a feminine word, , whether you use it for a man or a woman. Grammatical gender (you can no longer say "gender" alone, or you'll be misunderstood) is not the same as sex, even though they often coincide when you refer to sexual beings.

If you use an adjective such as "precioso/a" or "querido/a" with a feminine word such as "persona", you can say that "That man is a beloved person" by saying "Ese hombre es una persona querida". Since "persona" is feminine (even though it refers to a man), the adjective must agree in gender. So, "Amor precioso" or "Amorcito precioso" are both correct for any sex; you must use the masculine gender for "amor". "Cariño" is another masculine word that can be used for both sexes, and "víctima" another feminine word that can be used for both sexes.

On the other hand, if he calls you simply "precioso", being used a noun, maybe he thinks you are man. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense.

updated Jun 23, 2011
edited by lazarus1907
posted by lazarus1907
5
votes

Hola, cclear - welcome to the forum!

The word "amor" is masculine..."mi amor" - my love..."mi amorcito" my special/darling/unique love"..."mi amorcito precioso" - "my precious little love". The word "precioso" is masculine because it modifies "amorcito", which is masculine.

This masculine form in no way is a commentary about you! smile

updated Jun 23, 2011
posted by mountaingirl123
1
vote

deleted

updated Feb 10, 2012
edited by tamaramarie
posted by tamaramarie
0
votes

Lets see if I am correct here

I use "amorcita mio" " preciosita" and " querida Mio" I suppose that the gender mix is wrong but ni modo, lets see how much I get corrected.

updated Jun 23, 2011
posted by pacofinkler