Los demostrativos: este, ese, aquel

Los demostrativos: este, ese, aquel means “Demonstratives (this/that) mark distance and agree in gender and number”. Spanish has three degrees of distance: este (this, near me), ese (that, near you), aquel (that, far from both). Formation: este/esta/estos/estas (cerca) · ese/esa/esos/esas (medio) · aquel/aquella/… (lejos)

Demonstratives (this/that) mark distance and agree in gender and number

A1

Formation

este/esta/estos/estas (cerca) · ese/esa/esos/esas (medio) · aquel/aquella/… (lejos)

Explanation

Spanish has three degrees of distance: este (this, near me), ese (that, near you), aquel (that, far from both). Each agrees with its noun: este libro, esta casa, estos coches, aquellas montañas. They usually come before the noun and mirror the same gender/number endings you learned for adjectives.

Examples

Este libro es mío.
This book is mine.
Esa casa es grande.
That house is big.

Note

Neuter esto/eso/aquello refer to an idea or unknown thing: ¿Qué es esto? They never take an accent.

FAQ

Los demostrativos: este, ese, aquel — what does it mean and how is it used?

Demonstratives (this/that) mark distance and agree in gender and number. Spanish has three degrees of distance: este (this, near me), ese (that, near you), aquel (that, far from both). Each agrees with its noun: este libro, esta casa, estos coches, aquellas montañas. They usually come before the noun and mirror the same gender/number endings you learned for adjectives.

Los demostrativos: este, ese, aquel — how do you form it?

este/esta/estos/estas (cerca) · ese/esa/esos/esas (medio) · aquel/aquella/… (lejos)

Los demostrativos: este, ese, aquel — any usage notes?

Neuter esto/eso/aquello refer to an idea or unknown thing: ¿Qué es esto? They never take an accent.

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