Demonstrativos/Demonstratives
this,that,these,those
©Marie-ClaireHunter,2013www.learnenglishspanishonline.com
Thislessonisgoingtotalkaboutwordslike‘this’,‘that’,‘these’and‘those’.
‘this’,‘that’,‘these’,‘those
Ifyoudon’tlikegrammarlookawaynow,butforthosewhodo,‘this’,‘that’,‘these’and‘those’canbeadjectivesorpronouns.
Thesewordsareknownas‘demonstratives’.
Don’tlookyet…
Adjectivesdescribenouns.
‘This’flower.
Pronounsreplacenouns.
‘This’isforyou.(heart)
Ifthedemonstrativeappearsnexttoanounit’sanadjective.Ifit’saloneit’sapronoun.
Canyoudecideiftheonesthatappearinthefollowingsentencesareadjectivesorpronouns?
‘This’girlismysister.
‘This’ismysister.
‘That’boyismybrother.
‘That’ismybrother.
‘These’aremyshoes.
‘Those’shoesareyours.
Howdidyoudo?
‘This’girlismysister.(adjectivebecauseitappearswiththenoun‘girl’)
‘This’ismysister.(pronounbecauseitreplacesthenoun‘girl’)
‘That’boyismybrother.(adjectivebecauseitappearswiththenoun‘boy’)
‘That’ismybrother.(pronounbecauseitreplacesthenoun‘boy’)
‘These’aremyshoes.(pronounbecauseitdoesn’tappearnexttoanoun)
‘Those’shoesareyours.(adjectivebecauseitappearsnexttothenoun‘shoes’)
Ok,it’ssafetolooknow..
Butjustsoyouknow,ifyouseetheword‘demonstratives’thatjustmeanswordslike‘this’,‘that’,‘these’and‘those’.
Englishhastwosingulardemonstratives,‘this’and‘that’.
Theonethatyouchoosewillindicatewhetherthenounisnearorfarawayfromthespeakerorwriter.
‘this’referstosomethingclosebyand‘that’referstosomethingfurtheraway.
Thispiglet.
Thatpiglet.
Spanishhasthreesingulardemonstrativesandtheyalsoindicatedistancefromthespeaker.
‘este’(this),‘ese’(that)and‘aquel’(that(one)furtheraway)
Thispiglet.(este)
Thatpiglet.(ese)
Thatpigletoverthere.(aquel)
‘Thisone’/‘Thatone’
InEnglish,whenweuse‘this’or‘that’asapronoun(toreplaceanoun)weoftenaddtheword‘one’or‘ones’to
completethemeaning.
Iwouldlikethatone.
ButinSpanishthisisn’tnecessaryasthemeaningisincludedinthepronoun.
Thisoneisforyou. Thatoneisforyou.Esteesparati. Eseesparati.
2T’s-Amemoryaid!
Ifyoufindithardtorememberwhichwordmeans‘this’andwhichonemeans‘that’trytoimaginethat
eachsetofwordscanonlyusetwo‘t’s.
For‘this’theEnglishversiontakesone‘t’andsodoestheSpanish‘este’.
For‘that’theEnglishversionusesbothsotheSpanishisleftwithnone‘ese’.
Timetopractice!
Soifthewordforpigletis‘chanchito’howwouldyousay…?
Thispiglet.(andyoumeanthisonerighthere)
Thatpiglet.(thatonealittlewayoverthere)
Thatpiglet.(thatonewayoverthere)
Andwhataboutifyoureallywantedthisparticularpiglethowwouldyousay:‘Iwantthisone.’(rightherebyme)?
Ihopeyousaid….
Estechanchito = Thispiglet.(here)
Esechanchito = Thatpiglet.(there) Aquelchanchito = Thatpiglet.(wayoverthere)
Quieroeste. = Iwantthisone.
Sowe’reallsettonowtorefertomasculineobjectsbutyouprobablyrememberthatinSpanish,wordsthatdescribenouns(adjectives)changetomatchthenounthattheyreferto,right?
Ellibrorojo.
Loslibrosrojos.
Lamesaroja.
Lasmesasrojas.
Well,Spanishdemonstrativesalsochangetomatchthenounornounsthattheymodify.
Theycanbesingularorplural,feminineormasculine.
HerearetheSpanishdemonstratives.
thesethese
Don’tgetcaughtout!
Althoughweexpectthatmasculinewordstoendin‘o’don’tgetcaughtoutbecause‘este’(this)and‘ese’(that)areboth
masculinebuttheyendin‘e’intheirsingularforms.
Then,justtoconfuseus,theychangeto‘estos’and‘esos’Intheirpluralforms.
SoifyoulookbackatthechartwhatarethetwoSpanishwordsfor‘this’,
oneforamasculineobjectandoneforafeminineobject?
Didyousay‘esta’and‘este’?
Ifyoudid,welldone!
Estaforfeminineobjectsandesteformasculineones.
Nowalittlemorepractice!
Ifyouhadanapple,unamanzana,whichisafeminineobject,andyouwantedtosay‘thisapple’
whichdemonstrativewouldyouneedtouse?
_______manzana.(RememberthatinLatinAmericanSpanishthe‘z’makesan‘s’soundbutinSpanishfromSpainit’smorelikea‘th’sound.)
Didyousay…?
Estamanzana.
Ifyoudid,greatwork!
Andnowforfeminineplurals
Ifyouhadmorethanoneappleandyouwantedtosay‘theseapples’andthen‘thoseapples’abit
furtheraway,whatwouldyousay?
_____manzanas.(theseapples)
______manzanas.(thoseapples)
Thatwasn’ttoohardwasit,allyouhadtodowasaddan‘s’.
Estasmanzanas.(theseapples)
Esasmanzanas.(thoseapples)
Masculinepluralsarealittletrickier!
If‘estechanchito’means‘thispiglet’howwouldyousay‘thesepiglets’?
Rememberinthemasculineformsthe‘e’endingof‘este’and‘ese’changesto‘o’beforeyouaddthe‘s’.
Estoschanchitos.(Thesepiglets.)
That’sright,‘chanchitos’isapluralnounsothedemonstrative‘estos’alsoneedstobeplural.
Andifyouwantedtosay‘thosepiglets’youwouldhavesaid‘esoschanchitos’.
Greatwork!
Nowhaveagobyyourself,fillinthegaps…
MASCULINE
thisbook_____librothesebooks_____libros
thatbook_____librothosebooks_____libros
thatbook(wayoverthere)_____libro
thosebooks(wayoverthere)_____libros
FEMININE
thistable_____mesathesetables_____mesas
thattable_____mesathosetables_____mesas
thattable(wayoverthere)_____mesa
thosetables(wayoverthere)_____mesas
Ifyougavetheseanswers,welldone!
MASCULINE
thisbook–estelibrothesebooks–estoslibros
thatbook–eselibrothosebooks-esoslibros
thatbook(overthere)–aquellibro
thosebooks(overthere)–aquelloslibros
FEMININE
thistable-estamesathesetables–estasmesas
thattable–esamesathosetables–esasmesas
thattable(overthere_–aquellamesa
thosetables(overthere)–aquellasmesas
Adverbsofplace:here,there,overthere
Becausethedemonstratives‘this’and‘that’and‘that’(furtheraway)indicatedistancetheyareoftenusedwithwordslike‘here’and‘there’(adverbsof
locationorplace).
‘This’rabbitis‘here’.‘That’rabbitit‘there’.
Adverbsofplace:
ForthetwoEnglishwordstherearefiveSpanishequivalents:
Here(aquíoracá)
There(ahí,allí,allá)
Isthereanydifference?
Aquíandacámean=here(closetothespeaker)
Ahímeans=there(inthevicinity,nottoofaraway)
Allímeans=there(atamediumdistanceaway,relativelyfaraway)
Allámeans=(over)there(farawayfromboththespeakerandthehearerifthereisone)
NB:ThechoicebetweenaquíandacácanoftenberegionalwithacáoftenfavouredinLatinAmerica
Whichonestouse?
Asyoucansee,eachonehasaslightlydifferentnuancebutIwouldsuggestjuststartingwith
threethatwillgetyouby:
aquí=here
allí=there
allá=(wayover)there
Timetopractice!
Howwouldyousay….?
thisappleherethatapplethere
thatappleoverthere
Hopefullyyousaid…
thisapple=estamanzanaaquí(oracá)
thatapplethere=esamanzanaallí(orahí)
thatappleoverthere=aquellamanzanaallá
Alittlemoreonaquel&aquella We’vealreadylearntthat‘aquel’and‘aquella’arethewordsfor‘that’whenwearereferringtosomethingfurtherorfaraway.
Bearinmindhoweverthatthisdoesn’tjusthavetobephysicaldistance,thesewordscanalsorefertoemotionalorpsychological
distance.
Someexamples¿Recuerdasaquellosdías?
Doyourememberthosedays(longago)?
¿Ese?No,aquel. Thatone?No,thatone(furtheraway).
¿Vesaquellamontaña?Doyouseethatmountain(overthere)?
¡Quénocheaquella!Whatanightthatwas!
¡Miraaquello!¿Quées? Lookatthat!(inthedistance)Whatisit?
Let’sseehowmuchwe’velearnt!
Choosetherightdemonstrativetomatchthenoun.
este,estos,esta,estas,ese,esa,esos,esas,
aquel,aquellos,aquella,aquellas
Thatday.(agesago) ! ! !_______día.
Thisgirl. _______muchacha. Thatgirl. _______muchacha.
Thoseboys. _______muchachos.
Thoseboys(farawayintimeordistance) _______muchachos.
Howdidyoudo?
Thatday.(agesago) ! ! ! !aqueldía.
Thisgirl. estamuchacha. Thatgirl. esamuchacha.
Thoseboys. esosmuchachos.
Thoseboys(farawayintimeordistance) aquellosmuchachos.
Whenyoudon’tknowwhethersomethingisfeminineormasculineyouuseaneuterpronoun.
Therearethree,andtheyallendin‘o’.esto(this)
eso(that)
aquello(that,furtheraway)
NB:Thesecannotbeusedasadjectives,onlyaspronouns,theycanonlyrefertounknownorabstractthingsandcan’tdescribeknownnouns.
Someexamples…
¿Quéesesto? Whatisthis?
¿Yesodeallá? Andthatoverthere?
¡Estoesgenial! Thisisgreat!
¡Esoes! That’sit!
Apartedeeso…. Apartfromthat….
¡Esoeselcolmo! Thatisthelaststraw!
Trythismemoryaid…Oh,Idon’tknowsoI’lladdan‘o’.
esto,eso,aquello
Sohowwouldyousay….
Whatisthat?
Ifyoudon’tknowwhat‘that’is?
Youwouldsay….
¿Quéeseso?Whatisthat?
SoknowyouknowalotaboutSpanishdemonstrativeadjectivesandpronounsandtheadverbsofplacethatoftengowiththem.
Let’smakeafewsentencesusingalloftheseelementstoseehowmuchwecanremember.
Howwouldyoutranslatethesesentences?
Thisbookismine.(ifyouwereholdingit)
Thatbookismine.(ifitwassittingonthetable)Thatday.(alongtimeinthepast)
Whatisthat?(whenyouhavenoideawhatitis)Thosebiscuitsaredelicious.(pointingtothem)Thesebiscuitsaredelicious.(eatingthem)
Thiscatisveryfriendly.(holdingit)Idon'twantthathouse.Iwantthatone(furtheraway).
Andtheanswersare…Estelibroesmío.
Thisbookismine.(ifyouwereholdingit)Eselibroesmío.
Thatbookismine.(ifitwassittingonthetable)Aqueldía.
Thatday.(alongtimeinthepast)¿Quéeseso?
Whatisthat?(whenyouhavenoideawhatitis)Esasgalletasestándeliciosas.
Thosebiscuitsaredelicious.(pointingtothem)Estasgalletasestándeliciosas.
Thesebiscuitsaredelicious.(eatingthem)Estegatoesmuyamable.
Thiscatisveryfriendly.(holdingit)Noquieroesacasa,quieroaquella.
Idon'twantthathouse.Iwantthatone(furtheraway).
Ifyouansweredcorrectly….
You’reprobablyreadytomoveontothenext
subject!
Unlessofcourseyou’reoneofthestrangeonesthatreallylikesgrammarandyou’dliketoreadthesupplementaryinfo
thatfollows☺©Marie-ClaireHunter,2013www.learnenglishspanishonline.com
Alittleextra!Aquí and acá usually appear with este, esta, estos, estas (this/these) - to refer to things physically or psychologically close to the speaker
Este libro aquí/acá. This book here. Estos libros aquí/acá. These books here
Ahí and Allí usually occur with ese, esa, esos, esas (that/those) -to refer to things not too far away physically or psychologically.
Ese libro ahí/allí. That book there. Esos libros ahí/allí. Those books there.
Allá usually appears with aquel, aquella, aquellos, aquellas (that/those) - to refer to things physically or psychologically far away from the speaker, and the
hearer (if there is one)
Aquel libro allá. That book (way over) there. Aquellos libros allá. Those books (way over) there.
aquí,acá,allí,allá
Ifitseemsalittleconfusingthatthereismorethanonewordmeaning'here'andmorethanonemeaning'there'-agoodtipisthatthewordsendingwithídenoteanexactlocationwhereasthoseendingwithácandenoteavague
orlessspecificlocation.
ADVERBSOFPLACE
DEMONSTRATIVES SINGULAR
MASCULINO FEMENINO
aquí/acá(here) this este esta
ahí/alli(there) that ese esa
allá(overthere) that(furtheraway) aquel aquella
PLURAL
MASCULINO FEMENINO
aquí/acá(here) these estos estas
ahí/alli(there) those esos esas
allá(overthere) those(furtheraway) aquellos aquellas
Here’satablethatmighthelpyoutorememberhowtousethesewordstogether.
Someexamples…
aqueldía=thatday(awhileago)
enaquelentonces=inthosedays,backthen
aquelnovioestabaloco=thatboyfriendwascrazy
nomegustabaaquelhombre=Ididn’tlikethatman
Rememberthateste,ese,aquelloetccanbeusedas
adjectivesaswellaspronouns.
Theadjectivesandpronounsareidenticalapartfromthefactthattherearethreeextra‘neuter’formsthatcanonlybeusedaspronouns.
MASCULINE FEMININE NEUTER
THIS este esta esto
THAT ese esa eso
THAT(furtheraway) aquel aquella aquello
Thereusedtobearulethatdemonstrativepronounsshouldhaveanaccent(éste,ésta,ése,ésaetc)todifferentiatethemfromthedemonstrativeadjectivesbutin1950theRealAcademiaEspañolachangedtheruleandunlessthemeaningis
ambiguoustheaccentsarenotnecessary.(althoughsomepeoplestillusethem)
Thingstoremember!
TheEnd
Welldone,ifyou’dliketotestyourknowledgewhynotdoour
‘SpanishDemonstrativesQuiz’?
Feelfreetocontactuswithanyquestionsorwithanylessonrequests