Demonstrative Adjectives and Pronouns

Which flag? – THIS flag. Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns DEMONSTRATE, which means “show.”

English has two sets of demonstrative pronouns: Do you want THIS apple?  No, I want THAT apple.

But what if there are TWO apples? You wouldn’t say, “I want this apple s ” or “I want that apple s.” SURPRISE! demonstrative adjectives agree in number with the noun: I want THIS apple. BUT... I want THESE apples. I want THAT apple. BUT... I want THOSE apples. Spanish looks a little less strange now, huh?

Spanish Demonstrative Adjectives: Watch out for the masculine forms: masculine singular ends in –e, the plural ends in –os. ‘This’ and ‘these’ have t’s; ‘that’ and ‘those’ don’t esteesta this estosestas these eseesa that esosesas those aquelaquella that one over there aquellosaquellas those over there

¿Quieres esta manzana? No ¿Quieres esa manzana? No. Quiero aquella manzana.

Demonstrative ADJECTIVES. Adjectives describe nouns: Quiero esta manzana. – I want this apple. Demonstrative PRONOUNS. Pronouns take the place of nouns: No quiero esta manzana; quiero ésa. – I don’t want this apple; I want that one. ésteéstaéstoséstas éseésaésosésas aquélaquéllaaquéllosaquéllas Demonstrative Pronouns

“I want that one.” You’d just say “Quiero ése.” Quiero ese libro. – Quiero ése. Quiero esos libros. – Quiero ésos. Quiero aquella silla. – Quiero aquélla. Quiero aquellas sillas. – Quiero aquéllas.

“esto,” “eso,” and “aquello.” Those are neuter pronouns. What “neuter” means in this case is that the pronoun refers to an idea, not a thing: Tengo dos libros. – Quiero ése. In the above example, “ése” refers to “libro.” Juan is my brother. – I didn’t know that. Juan es mi hermano. – Yo no sabia eso. In the above example, “eso” (“that”) doesn’t refer to an object; it refers to the fact that Juan is my brother. Since you don’t have a masculine or feminine object that the pronoun refers to, you use the neuter form.

Demonstratives A. Choose the correct demonstrative adjective that corresponds to “this” or “these.” 1. this pen _____ pluma este estos esta estas 2. this book _____ libro este estos esta estas 3. these girls _____ muchachas este estos esta estas 4. these apartments _____ apartamentos este estos esta estas B. Choose the correctdemonstrative adjective that corresponds to “that” or “those.” 5. those women _____ mujeres ese esos esa esas 6. that car _____ auto ese esos esa esas 7. those buildings _____ edificios ese esos esa esas 8. that bed _____ cama ese esos esa esas C. Choose the correct demonstrative adjective that corresponds to “that _____ over there” or “those _____ over there.” 9. those houses over there _____ casas aquel aquellos aquella aquellas 10. that lady over there _____ señora aquel aquellos aquella aquellas 11. that tree over there _____ árbol aquel aquellos aquella aquellas 12. those buildings over there _____ edificios aquel aquellos aquella aquellas

Demonstrative Pronouns D. Choose the correct demonstrative adjective or demonstrative pronoun. 13. That book is mine, but this one is hers. Ese libro es mío, pero _____ es suyo. éste este 14. These magazines are mine, but those over there are his. Estas revistas son mías, pero _____ son suyas. aquéllos aquéllas 15. This car is mine, but that over there is his. Este coche es mío, pero _____ es suyo. ése ese 16. This table is mine, but that one is hers. Esta mesa es mía, pero _____ es suya. aquel ésa 17. This magazine is mine, but that one is hers. _____ revista es mía, pero ésa es suya. Esta Ésta 18. This book is mine, but that one is his. _____ libro es mío, pero ése es suyo. Este Éste 19. This is absurd! ¡ _____ es absurdo! Este Ese Esto 20. That bothers me. _____ me molesta. Ese Eso