Demonstrativos/Demonstratives

this,that,these,those

©Marie-ClaireHunter,2013www.learnenglishspanishonline.com

Thislessonisgoingtotalkaboutwordslike‘this’,‘that’,‘these’and‘those’.

‘this’,‘that’,‘these’,‘those

Ifyoudon’tlikegrammarlookawaynow,butforthosewhodo,‘this’,‘that’,‘these’and‘those’canbeadjectivesorpronouns.

Thesewordsareknownas‘demonstratives’.

Don’tlookyet…

Adjectivesdescribenouns.

‘This’flower.

Pronounsreplacenouns.

‘This’isforyou.(heart)

Ifthedemonstrativeappearsnexttoanounit’sanadjective.Ifit’saloneit’sapronoun.

Canyoudecideiftheonesthatappearinthefollowingsentencesareadjectivesorpronouns?

‘This’girlismysister.

‘This’ismysister.

‘That’boyismybrother.

‘That’ismybrother.

‘These’aremyshoes.

‘Those’shoesareyours.

Howdidyoudo?

‘This’girlismysister.(adjectivebecauseitappearswiththenoun‘girl’)

‘This’ismysister.(pronounbecauseitreplacesthenoun‘girl’)

‘That’boyismybrother.(adjectivebecauseitappearswiththenoun‘boy’)

‘That’ismybrother.(pronounbecauseitreplacesthenoun‘boy’)

‘These’aremyshoes.(pronounbecauseitdoesn’tappearnexttoanoun)

‘Those’shoesareyours.(adjectivebecauseitappearsnexttothenoun‘shoes’)

Ok,it’ssafetolooknow..

Butjustsoyouknow,ifyouseetheword‘demonstratives’thatjustmeanswordslike‘this’,‘that’,‘these’and‘those’.

Englishhastwosingulardemonstratives,‘this’and‘that’.

Theonethatyouchoosewillindicatewhetherthenounisnearorfarawayfromthespeakerorwriter.

‘this’referstosomethingclosebyand‘that’referstosomethingfurtheraway.

Thispiglet.

Thatpiglet.

Spanishhasthreesingulardemonstrativesandtheyalsoindicatedistancefromthespeaker.

‘este’(this),‘ese’(that)and‘aquel’(that(one)furtheraway)

Thispiglet.(este)

Thatpiglet.(ese)

Thatpigletoverthere.(aquel)

‘Thisone’/‘Thatone’

InEnglish,whenweuse‘this’or‘that’asapronoun(toreplaceanoun)weoftenaddtheword‘one’or‘ones’to

completethemeaning.

Iwouldlikethatone.

ButinSpanishthisisn’tnecessaryasthemeaningisincludedinthepronoun.

Thisoneisforyou. Thatoneisforyou.Esteesparati. Eseesparati.

2T’s-Amemoryaid!

Ifyoufindithardtorememberwhichwordmeans‘this’andwhichonemeans‘that’trytoimaginethat

eachsetofwordscanonlyusetwo‘t’s.

For‘this’theEnglishversiontakesone‘t’andsodoestheSpanish‘este’.

For‘that’theEnglishversionusesbothsotheSpanishisleftwithnone‘ese’.

Timetopractice!

Soifthewordforpigletis‘chanchito’howwouldyousay…?

Thispiglet.(andyoumeanthisonerighthere)

Thatpiglet.(thatonealittlewayoverthere)

Thatpiglet.(thatonewayoverthere)

Andwhataboutifyoureallywantedthisparticularpiglethowwouldyousay:‘Iwantthisone.’(rightherebyme)?

Ihopeyousaid….

Estechanchito = Thispiglet.(here)

Esechanchito = Thatpiglet.(there) Aquelchanchito = Thatpiglet.(wayoverthere)

Quieroeste. = Iwantthisone.

Sowe’reallsettonowtorefertomasculineobjectsbutyouprobablyrememberthatinSpanish,wordsthatdescribenouns(adjectives)changetomatchthenounthattheyreferto,right?

Ellibrorojo.

Loslibrosrojos.

Lamesaroja.

Lasmesasrojas.

Well,Spanishdemonstrativesalsochangetomatchthenounornounsthattheymodify.

Theycanbesingularorplural,feminineormasculine.

HerearetheSpanishdemonstratives.

thesethese

Don’tgetcaughtout!

Althoughweexpectthatmasculinewordstoendin‘o’don’tgetcaughtoutbecause‘este’(this)and‘ese’(that)areboth

masculinebuttheyendin‘e’intheirsingularforms.

Then,justtoconfuseus,theychangeto‘estos’and‘esos’Intheirpluralforms.

SoifyoulookbackatthechartwhatarethetwoSpanishwordsfor‘this’,

oneforamasculineobjectandoneforafeminineobject?

Didyousay‘esta’and‘este’?

Ifyoudid,welldone!

Estaforfeminineobjectsandesteformasculineones.

Nowalittlemorepractice!

Ifyouhadanapple,unamanzana,whichisafeminineobject,andyouwantedtosay‘thisapple’

whichdemonstrativewouldyouneedtouse?

_______manzana.(RememberthatinLatinAmericanSpanishthe‘z’makesan‘s’soundbutinSpanishfromSpainit’smorelikea‘th’sound.)

Didyousay…?

Estamanzana.

Ifyoudid,greatwork!

Andnowforfeminineplurals

Ifyouhadmorethanoneappleandyouwantedtosay‘theseapples’andthen‘thoseapples’abit

furtheraway,whatwouldyousay?

_____manzanas.(theseapples)

______manzanas.(thoseapples)

Thatwasn’ttoohardwasit,allyouhadtodowasaddan‘s’.

Estasmanzanas.(theseapples)

Esasmanzanas.(thoseapples)

Masculinepluralsarealittletrickier!

If‘estechanchito’means‘thispiglet’howwouldyousay‘thesepiglets’?

Rememberinthemasculineformsthe‘e’endingof‘este’and‘ese’changesto‘o’beforeyouaddthe‘s’.

Estoschanchitos.(Thesepiglets.)

That’sright,‘chanchitos’isapluralnounsothedemonstrative‘estos’alsoneedstobeplural.

Andifyouwantedtosay‘thosepiglets’youwouldhavesaid‘esoschanchitos’.

Greatwork!

Nowhaveagobyyourself,fillinthegaps…

MASCULINE

thisbook_____librothesebooks_____libros

thatbook_____librothosebooks_____libros

thatbook(wayoverthere)_____libro

thosebooks(wayoverthere)_____libros

FEMININE

thistable_____mesathesetables_____mesas

thattable_____mesathosetables_____mesas

thattable(wayoverthere)_____mesa

thosetables(wayoverthere)_____mesas

Ifyougavetheseanswers,welldone!

MASCULINE

thisbook–estelibrothesebooks–estoslibros

thatbook–eselibrothosebooks-esoslibros

thatbook(overthere)–aquellibro

thosebooks(overthere)–aquelloslibros

FEMININE

thistable-estamesathesetables–estasmesas

thattable–esamesathosetables–esasmesas

thattable(overthere_–aquellamesa

thosetables(overthere)–aquellasmesas

Adverbsofplace:here,there,overthere

Becausethedemonstratives‘this’and‘that’and‘that’(furtheraway)indicatedistancetheyareoftenusedwithwordslike‘here’and‘there’(adverbsof

locationorplace).

‘This’rabbitis‘here’.‘That’rabbitit‘there’.

Adverbsofplace:

ForthetwoEnglishwordstherearefiveSpanishequivalents:

Here(aquíoracá)

There(ahí,allí,allá)

Isthereanydifference?

Aquíandacámean=here(closetothespeaker)

Ahímeans=there(inthevicinity,nottoofaraway)

Allímeans=there(atamediumdistanceaway,relativelyfaraway)

Allámeans=(over)there(farawayfromboththespeakerandthehearerifthereisone)

NB:ThechoicebetweenaquíandacácanoftenberegionalwithacáoftenfavouredinLatinAmerica

Whichonestouse?

Asyoucansee,eachonehasaslightlydifferentnuancebutIwouldsuggestjuststartingwith

threethatwillgetyouby:

aquí=here

allí=there

allá=(wayover)there

Timetopractice!

Howwouldyousay….?

thisappleherethatapplethere

thatappleoverthere

Hopefullyyousaid…

thisapple=estamanzanaaquí(oracá)

thatapplethere=esamanzanaallí(orahí)

thatappleoverthere=aquellamanzanaallá

Alittlemoreonaquel&aquella We’vealreadylearntthat‘aquel’and‘aquella’arethewordsfor‘that’whenwearereferringtosomethingfurtherorfaraway.

Bearinmindhoweverthatthisdoesn’tjusthavetobephysicaldistance,thesewordscanalsorefertoemotionalorpsychological

distance.

Someexamples¿Recuerdasaquellosdías?

Doyourememberthosedays(longago)?

¿Ese?No,aquel. Thatone?No,thatone(furtheraway).

¿Vesaquellamontaña?Doyouseethatmountain(overthere)?

¡Quénocheaquella!Whatanightthatwas!

¡Miraaquello!¿Quées? Lookatthat!(inthedistance)Whatisit?

Let’sseehowmuchwe’velearnt!

Choosetherightdemonstrativetomatchthenoun.

este,estos,esta,estas,ese,esa,esos,esas,

aquel,aquellos,aquella,aquellas

Thatday.(agesago) ! ! !_______día.

Thisgirl. _______muchacha. Thatgirl. _______muchacha.

Thoseboys. _______muchachos.

Thoseboys(farawayintimeordistance) _______muchachos.

Howdidyoudo?

Thatday.(agesago) ! ! ! !aqueldía.

Thisgirl. estamuchacha. Thatgirl. esamuchacha.

Thoseboys. esosmuchachos.

Thoseboys(farawayintimeordistance) aquellosmuchachos.

Whenyoudon’tknowwhethersomethingisfeminineormasculineyouuseaneuterpronoun.

Therearethree,andtheyallendin‘o’.esto(this)

eso(that)

aquello(that,furtheraway)

NB:Thesecannotbeusedasadjectives,onlyaspronouns,theycanonlyrefertounknownorabstractthingsandcan’tdescribeknownnouns.

Someexamples…

¿Quéesesto? Whatisthis?

¿Yesodeallá? Andthatoverthere?

¡Estoesgenial! Thisisgreat!

¡Esoes! That’sit!

Apartedeeso…. Apartfromthat….

¡Esoeselcolmo! Thatisthelaststraw!

Trythismemoryaid…Oh,Idon’tknowsoI’lladdan‘o’.

esto,eso,aquello

Sohowwouldyousay….

Whatisthat?

Ifyoudon’tknowwhat‘that’is?

Youwouldsay….

¿Quéeseso?Whatisthat?

SoknowyouknowalotaboutSpanishdemonstrativeadjectivesandpronounsandtheadverbsofplacethatoftengowiththem.

Let’smakeafewsentencesusingalloftheseelementstoseehowmuchwecanremember.

Howwouldyoutranslatethesesentences?

Thisbookismine.(ifyouwereholdingit)

Thatbookismine.(ifitwassittingonthetable)Thatday.(alongtimeinthepast)

Whatisthat?(whenyouhavenoideawhatitis)Thosebiscuitsaredelicious.(pointingtothem)Thesebiscuitsaredelicious.(eatingthem)

Thiscatisveryfriendly.(holdingit)Idon'twantthathouse.Iwantthatone(furtheraway).

Andtheanswersare…Estelibroesmío.

Thisbookismine.(ifyouwereholdingit)Eselibroesmío.

Thatbookismine.(ifitwassittingonthetable)Aqueldía.

Thatday.(alongtimeinthepast)¿Quéeseso?

Whatisthat?(whenyouhavenoideawhatitis)Esasgalletasestándeliciosas.

Thosebiscuitsaredelicious.(pointingtothem)Estasgalletasestándeliciosas.

Thesebiscuitsaredelicious.(eatingthem)Estegatoesmuyamable.

Thiscatisveryfriendly.(holdingit)Noquieroesacasa,quieroaquella.

Idon'twantthathouse.Iwantthatone(furtheraway).

Ifyouansweredcorrectly….

You’reprobablyreadytomoveontothenext

subject!

Unlessofcourseyou’reoneofthestrangeonesthatreallylikesgrammarandyou’dliketoreadthesupplementaryinfo

thatfollows☺©Marie-ClaireHunter,2013www.learnenglishspanishonline.com

Alittleextra!Aquí and acá usually appear with este, esta, estos, estas (this/these) - to refer to things physically or psychologically close to the speaker

Este libro aquí/acá. This book here. Estos libros aquí/acá. These books here

Ahí and Allí usually occur with ese, esa, esos, esas (that/those) -to refer to things not too far away physically or psychologically.

Ese libro ahí/allí. That book there. Esos libros ahí/allí. Those books there.

Allá usually appears with aquel, aquella, aquellos, aquellas (that/those) - to refer to things physically or psychologically far away from the speaker, and the

hearer (if there is one)

Aquel libro allá. That book (way over) there. Aquellos libros allá. Those books (way over) there.

aquí,acá,allí,allá

Ifitseemsalittleconfusingthatthereismorethanonewordmeaning'here'andmorethanonemeaning'there'-agoodtipisthatthewordsendingwithídenoteanexactlocationwhereasthoseendingwithácandenoteavague

orlessspecificlocation.

ADVERBSOFPLACE

DEMONSTRATIVES SINGULAR

MASCULINO FEMENINO

aquí/acá(here) this este esta

ahí/alli(there) that ese esa

allá(overthere) that(furtheraway) aquel aquella

PLURAL

MASCULINO FEMENINO

aquí/acá(here) these estos estas

ahí/alli(there) those esos esas

allá(overthere) those(furtheraway) aquellos aquellas

Here’satablethatmighthelpyoutorememberhowtousethesewordstogether.

Someexamples…

aqueldía=thatday(awhileago)

enaquelentonces=inthosedays,backthen

aquelnovioestabaloco=thatboyfriendwascrazy

nomegustabaaquelhombre=Ididn’tlikethatman

Rememberthateste,ese,aquelloetccanbeusedas

adjectivesaswellaspronouns.

Theadjectivesandpronounsareidenticalapartfromthefactthattherearethreeextra‘neuter’formsthatcanonlybeusedaspronouns.

MASCULINE FEMININE NEUTER

THIS este esta esto

THAT ese esa eso

THAT(furtheraway) aquel aquella aquello

Thereusedtobearulethatdemonstrativepronounsshouldhaveanaccent(éste,ésta,ése,ésaetc)todifferentiatethemfromthedemonstrativeadjectivesbutin1950theRealAcademiaEspañolachangedtheruleandunlessthemeaningis

ambiguoustheaccentsarenotnecessary.(althoughsomepeoplestillusethem)

Thingstoremember!

TheEnd

Welldone,ifyou’dliketotestyourknowledgewhynotdoour

‘SpanishDemonstrativesQuiz’?

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