As the name would indicate, “demonstratives”
are words that help us “demonstrate” where something is. They are quite
often accompanied by pointing and gestures. Demonstratives fall into two categories:
demonstrative adjectives and demonstrative pronouns.
Demonstrative Adjectives
Imagine
that you’re in a store browsing through merchandise and talking to a salesperson
behind the counter. As you discuss the various products, you will likely use words
like, “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those.”
I’d
like to try on this ring.
How much does that
book cost?
What are these toys made out of?
I want to buy three of those light bulbs.
The
underlined words above are known as demonstrative adjectives. Which adjective
you use depends on two things: 1) how many objects there are, and 2) how close
they are to you. Using this information we can build a grid:
| singular: |
plural: |
near: |
this | these |
far: | that |
those |
Este, Estos, Ese, Esos
Spanish is similar,
albeit with one major difference that we’ll get to later.
| singular: |
plural: |
near: |
este | estos |
far: | ese |
esos |
Some examples:
Quisiera
probarme este anillo.
I’d like to try
on this ring.
¿Cuánto
cuesta ese libro?
How much does that
book cost?
¿De qué son estos
juguetes?
What are these toys made out
of?
Quiero comprar tres de esos
bombillos.
I want to buy three of those
light bulbs.
Please note that even though they are adjectives, we place
este, ese, estos, and esos in
front of the nouns they modify instead behind them like we normally do.
Also
note that the demonstrative adjectives for singular items are este and
ese, not esto and eso. That may seem inconsistent
with what you already know about adjectives, but that’s just the way it is.
There
is a little rhyme that can help you keep your demonstrative adjectives straight:
“This” and “these” have t’s, “that” and “those”
don’t.
Esta, Estas, Esa, Esas
If
that seemed too easy, it’s because it is. Since adjectives (even the demonstrative
kind) always agree in gender and in number with the nouns they modify, we actually need two charts:
|
masculine: |
|
singular: |
plural: |
near: |
este |
estos |
far: |
ese |
esos |
|
feminine: |
|
singular: |
plural: |
near: |
esta |
estas |
far: |
esa |
esas |
Note: Accent marks and pronunciation are important. Don’t confuse esta, the adjective, with está, the form of estar.
Now we can talk about feminine objects as well:
Quisiera
probarme esta pulsera.
I’d like to try
on this bracelet.
¿Cuánto
cuesta esa revista?
How much does that
magazine cost?
¿De qué son
estas camisas?
What are these
shirts made of?
Quiero comprar tres
de esas bufandas.
I’d like to buy three
of those scarves.
The demonstrative
adjectives changed to agree with the nouns they modify.
But we’re still
not done, because in addition to the “near” and “far” demonstrative
adjectives, Spanish throws in a third category that doesn’t exist in English:
Aquel,
Aquellos, Aquella, Aquellas
|
masculine: |
|
singular: |
plural: |
near: |
este |
estos |
far: |
ese |
esos |
really far: |
aquel |
aquellos |
|
feminine: |
|
singular: |
plural: |
near: |
esta |
estas |
far: |
esa |
esas |
really far: |
aquella |
aquellas |
So what’s
going on here? If an object is close enough to touch or right in front of you,
use the first line from the chart above: este, or esta
(for more than one object, estos or estas). If the object
is a little farther away from you, use the second line: ese or esa
(plural: esos or esas). And if the object is not in your
general vicinity, use the last line: aquel or aquella
(plural: aquellos or aquellas).
Please note that
once again the masculine singular demonstrative adjective doesn’t follow the normal
pattern. It’s aquel, not aquello.
Imagine that you’re
in the store again. You want to know the prices of a series of watches. The first
watch is lying on the counter in front of you. The second is in the display case
a few feet to one side. And the third watch is hanging on the wall behind the
salesperson. Your questions might sound something like this:
¿Cuánto
cuesta este reloj?
How much does this
watch cost?
¿Y cuánto
cuesta ese reloj?
And how much does that
watch cost?
¿Y cuánto
cuesta aquel reloj?
And how much does
that watch (over there) cost?
Or if
instead of watches you were asking about bouquets of flowers:
¿Cuánto
cuestan estas flores?
How much do these
flowers cost?
¿Y cuánto
cuestan esas flores?
And how much do those
flowers cost?
¿Y cuánto
cuestan aquellas flores?
And how much
do those flowers (over there) cost?
Notice
that both ese and aquel (or esa and aqella)
translate to “that” in English. And both esos and aquellos (or esas and aquellas) translate to “those.” It can
be helpful to add the words “over there” when dealing with forms of
aquel.
Determining when you should use a form of eso versus when you should use a form of aquel is not an exact science.
One way that might make it clearer is to think of it this way: If the object you’re
discussing is closer to you than it is to the person you’re talking to, use a
form of este. If the object is closer to the person you’re talking
to, use a form of ese. And if the object isn’t near either of you,
use a form of aquel.
Demonstrative Pronouns
Cultural Note: While you can use your finger to point at any
object, in some areas it is considered rude to point at people that way. You may
want to nod your head or use a different gesture instead. Speaking of which, some
Latinos will point at things with their lips by pursing them together
like blowing a kiss.
Now
let’s talk demonstrative pronouns. Remember that an adjective is a word that modifies
a noun, but a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Let’s say that
you’re in a store again shopping for a pen. Rather than say the word “pen”
over and over again, you will probably use pronouns: “How much is this pen?”
“How much is that one?” “What color are these?”
Here
are some more examples. The first sentence includes an adjective. The second one
uses a pronoun:
I like this
car. She prefers that one.
I like these
videos. She prefers those ones.
I like these
trees. She prefers those.
Notice how we
sometimes include the word “one” or “ones” with our pronouns.
In Spanish, the pronouns that we use look very similar to the adjectives:
Me
gusta este coche. Ella prefiere ése.
Me gustan estos videos. Ella prefiere ésos.
Me gustan estos árboles. Ella prefiere
aquéllos.
The complete set of demonstrative
pronouns looks like this:
masculine: |
|
singular: |
plural: |
near: |
éste |
éstos |
far: |
ése |
ésos |
really far: |
aquél |
aquéllos |
feminine: |
|
singular: |
plural: |
near: |
ésta |
éstas |
far: |
ésa |
ésas |
really far: |
aquélla |
aquéllas |
Note: Recently, the rule requiring demonstrative prounouns to have accents has been relaxed. The Real Academia Española now recommends that accents only be used to prevent ambiguity. Not everyone agrees with the REA, however; best to check with your teacher, professor, boss, etc.
The
only difference is that we add an accent mark to each of the pronouns. The accent
doesn’t change the pronunciation at all; it falls on the syllable that would normally
be stressed anyway. It’s only used to distinguish pronouns from adjectives in writing. Coincidentally,
the accent mark falls on the first “e” in every pronoun.
Note
how we still have the third “really far” category with our pronouns
just as we did with the adjectives. It works exactly the same way.
Neuter
Pronouns
Now we can translate “this” and “these” and
“that” and “those” without any problems, right? What about
in these situations?
We’re lost and
we have no gas.
This is not good.
I like
reading a good book.
I like that too!
The
highlighted words are pronouns, but the problem is that they aren’t replacing a
specific noun, but rather a concept (“being lost” or “reading”).
That’s not a big deal in English but in Spanish we need to know the gender in
order to use the correct pronoun. What is the gender of “being lost”
or of “reading a good book”? We really can’t say. So what do we do? We use a neuter
pronoun that’s neither masculine nor feminine:
Estamos
perdidos y no tenemos gasolina.
Esto no es bueno.
Me gusta leer un libro bueno.
¡Me gusta eso
también!
There are three neuter demonstrative pronouns: esto, eso, and aquello. We aren’t worried about gender with
neuter pronouns. We also aren’t worried about number since we’re replacing a (singular)
concept not (plural) objects.
Please note that:
- Even though
esto, eso, and aquello might seem to fit the
demonstrative adjective pattern better, este, ese, and
aquel are the singular, masculine adjectives.
- The pronouns esto, eso, and aquello are considered neuter, not masculine,
even though they end in “-o.”
- Even though they are pronouns,
esto, eso, and aquello don’t have accent marks.