Diminutives and augmentatives
καφεδάκι, σπιτάκι, καφεδάρα: affection, irony and admiration hidden inside a suffix.
The 'small' suffixes
-άκι (neuter, the most productive): σπίτι → σπιτάκι, καφές → καφεδάκι. -ούλα / -ίτσα (feminine): μαμά → μανούλα, ώρα → ωρίτσα, Ελένη → Ελενίτσα. -άκης / -ούλης (masculine, names): Γιώργος → Γιωργάκης. They express smallness OR affection — usually both.
The 'big' suffixes: -άρα, -αράς
-άρα admires as much as it enlarges: ποδάρα (what a foot), φωνάρα (great voice), ταινιάρα (awesome film), καφεδάρα. -αράς makes the person with the strong trait: υπναράς (heavy sleeper), δουλευταράς (hard worker), γκρινιάρης (grumbler). Confidently colloquial register.
Pragmatics: offering a καφεδάκι
Πάμε για έναν καφεδάκι; says nothing about cup size: the diminutive defuses, lightens the invitation, makes a request modest (μισό λεπτάκι, ένα τηλεφωνηματάκι). Irony flips it: Ωραίο σπιτάκι! in front of a villa. This pragmatic game is a Γ2 skill in its own right.
Your turn
Choose the correct form.