Demonstrative Adjectives and Pronouns

Question 1

Which salad do you want? This one or that one?
I want that one.

That salad looks better than this one.
That (one) is better than this (one).

Answer 1

In the first sentence, our demonstratives are functioning as adjectives (answer the question “which one?”).

In the second, they are serving as pronouns, taking the place of the nouns they are defining.

Question 2

Este

Answer 2

The “este” demonstratives we will use for things that are close. “This is my house.” “These are my books.”

Question 3

Ese

Answer 3

The “ese” group will be used with things that aren’t very close. “That house is huge!” “Those dogs are so cute!”

Question 4

In essence, these two groups will be used like they are in English: “This house is bigger than that one.” “Esta casa es más grande que esa.”

You may be worried about confusing which form means “that” and which means “this.” Here’s a handy little rhyme to help you keep it clear:

Answer 4

“This” and “these” have the “t’s”, “that” and “those” don’t.

Question 5

Aquello

Answer 5

This last group is one that we don’t have in English. It’s used to explain that something is far away. It’s like saying “That way over there…”

“This building is the post office. That one is the police station, and that building (way over there) is the library.”

Question 6

Neuter Demonstratives

Answer 6

These are used when we are referring to an abstract thing. For example, in the opening dialogue, we saw that María said, “Eso sería genial.” Since she was referring to something that was not an object, but more a concept (that the teacher sent PowerPoints to the students after class), the neuter pronoun was used. We can also use these when the object is unknown.

¿Y eso, qué es? – And that, what is it?
These demonstratives won’t change form, meaning they will always be used in the singular “masculine” form.

You will use these a lot in exclamations. For example, “That is amazing!” or “This is wonderful!”

Question 7

Here are the possessive pronouns:

Mío/mía/míos/mías Nuestro/nuestra/nuestros/nuestras
Tuyo/tuya/tuyos/tuyas Vuestro/vuestra/vuestros/vuestras
Suyo/suya/suyos/suyas Suyo/suya/suyos/suyas

Our demonstratives are used like the demonstratives in English. We can say:

That book is old.
That one is old.

Answer 7

Este “This” (used with a singular, masculine object)
Esta “This” (used with a singular, feminine object)
Estos “These” (used with plural, masculine objects)
Estas “These” (used with plural, feminine objects)
Ese “That” (used with a singular, masculine object)
Esa “That” (used with a singular, feminine object)
Esos “Those” (used with plural, masculine objects)
Esas “Those” (used with plural, feminine objects)
Aquello “That (over there)” (used with a singular, masculine object)
Aquella “That (over there)” (used with a singular, feminine object)
Aquellos “Those (over there)” (used with plural, masculine objects)
Aquellas “Those (over there)” (used with plural, Feminine objects)
Esto This
Eso That
Aquello That (over there)