Demonstrative adjectives: este, ese, aquel
Demonstrative adjectives (equivalent to “this” and “that”) change in Spanish according to the degree of distance in space or time. There are three of these:
Near
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| ♂ | Este móvil | Estos móviles |
| ♀ | Esta casa | Estas casas |
Medium distance
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| ♂ | Ese árbol | Esos árboles |
| ♀ | Esa señora | Esas señoras |
Further away
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| ♂ | Aquel día | Aquellos días |
| ♀ | Aquella casa | Aquellas casas |
The demonstrative can:
- Go before the noun it refers to.
¿Cuánto cuestan estas naranjas?
How much do those oranges cost?
¿Cuánto cuestan esos plátanos?
How much do those bananas cost?
- Replace a noun referring to an object or person that has already been or is about to be mentioned.
Esta es la foto que me gusta.
This is the photo that I like.
—¿Cuál es tu ordenador? —Es este.
-Which is your computer? -It's this one.
In both cases, it must agree with the gender and number of the noun.
Note: we use the neuter demonstratives esto, eso and aquello to replace something that has been said or whose name is not known.
No sé qué es eso.
I don't know what that is.
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