Demonstratives: Comprehensive Guide

Complete guide to demonstrative adjectives and pronouns in Spanish.

Three Levels of Distance

Near speaker (this/these): este, esta, estos, estas

Near listener (that/those): ese, esa, esos, esas

Far from both (that/those over there): aquel, aquella, aquellos, aquellas

Demonstrative Adjectives

Must agree with noun in gender and number:

Near (this/these): este libro (this book - masculine singular) esta casa (this house - feminine singular) estos libros (these books - masculine plural) estas casas (these houses - feminine plural)

Medium (that/those): ese libro (that book - masculine singular) esa casa (that house - feminine singular) esos libros (those books - masculine plural) esas casas (those houses - feminine plural)

Far (that/those over there): aquel libro (that book over there - masculine singular) aquella casa (that house over there - feminine singular) aquellos libros (those books over there - masculine plural) aquellas casas (those houses over there - feminine plural)

Demonstrative Pronouns

Same forms as adjectives (no accent marks needed in modern Spanish):

este (this one - masculine) esta (this one - feminine) estos (these ones - masculine) estas (these ones - feminine)

ese (that one - masculine) esa (that one - feminine) esos (those ones - masculine) esas (those ones - feminine)

aquel (that one over there - masculine) aquella (that one over there - feminine) aquellos (those ones over there - masculine) aquellas (those ones over there - feminine)

Prefiero este. (I prefer this one.) Quiero esa. (I want that one.) Aquellos son míos. (Those over there are mine.)

Neutral Demonstratives

esto, eso, aquello (this, that, that over there): Used for unidentified or abstract things, never with nouns.

¿Qué es esto? (What is this?) Eso es interesante. (That is interesting.) No entiendo aquello. (I don't understand that.)

Esto me gusta. (I like this.) Eso no es verdad. (That's not true.)

Distance Guidelines

Este (this): Close to speaker, can touch it, here

Ese (that): Close to listener, there (near you), medium distance

Aquel (that over there): Far from both speaker and listener, over there, in the distance

Temporal Usage

Este (recent past/near future): esta semana (this week) este mes (this month) este año (this year)

Ese (recent past): en ese momento (at that moment) ese día (that day)

Aquel (distant past): aquellos tiempos (those times - long ago) en aquella época (in that era)

Physical vs Metaphorical Distance

Physical: este libro aquí (this book here) ese libro ahí (that book there) aquel libro allá (that book over there)

Metaphorical (in conversation): este tema (this topic - current) ese problema (that problem - mentioned) aquella idea (that idea - distant/rejected)

Position in Sentence

Before the noun: este coche (this car) esa mujer (that woman) aquellas montañas (those mountains over there)

Contrasting

No quiero este, quiero ese. (I don't want this one, I want that one.) Esta es buena, pero aquella es mejor. (This one is good, but that one over there is better.)

Common Expressions

por eso (that's why/for that reason) a pesar de eso (despite that) además de eso (besides that) esto es (that is/this is) eso es (that's it/that's right)

Por eso no vine. (That's why I didn't come.) Eso es. (That's it./That's right.)

With People

Can be impolite if used alone: ❌ Ese es Juan. (That's Juan.) - sounds rude ✓ Ese chico es Juan. (That guy is Juan.) - better

Better to use article + noun: El chico ese es Juan. (That guy is Juan.)

Este vs Esto

Este (adjective/pronoun - with identified gender): este libro (this book) este (this one - referring to a masculine noun)

Esto (neutral - unidentified thing): ¿Qué es esto? (What is this?) Esto es difícil. (This is difficult.)

Regional Variations

Latin America: Prefers este/ese, less use of aquel

Spain: All three used distinctly

Alternative in Latin America: ese de allá instead of aquel

Demonstratives + Noun + Possessive

este libro mío (this book of mine) esa casa tuya (that house of yours)

Emphasis

For emphasis, place after noun: el libro este (this book - emphatic) la mujer esa (that woman - emphatic)

Without Nouns (Pronouns)

Dame ese. (Give me that one.) Prefiero estos. (I prefer these.) Aquella es bonita. (That one over there is pretty.)

Asking Which

¿Cuál prefieres, este o ese? (Which do you prefer, this one or that one?) ¿Cuáles quieres? (Which ones do you want?)

Common Errors

❌ Este carro es de mi ✓ Este carro es mío (Don't confuse with possessive)

❌ Eso libro ✓ Ese libro (Eso is neutral, only use alone)

❌ La este casa ✓ Esta casa (Don't use article with demonstrative)

Agreement

Must match gender and number: estos libros (these books - masc. plural) estas mesas (these tables - fem. plural)

❌ este casas ✓ estas casas

Practice