DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES

Los básicos We use demonstrative adjectives to specify items, as opposed to talking about them in general. Demonstratives also let us know how far away from us an item is, closer to the speaker or the listener.

Demonstratives in English THIS THESE THAT THOSE

Demostrativos en Español ESTE ESTA ESTOS ESTAS ESE ESA ESOS ESAS AQUEL AQUELLA AQUELLOS AQUELLAS

Why so many choices? Spanish has options for masculine and feminine nouns always, so the first four boxes on the chart are double what we have in English. Spanish also has a set of demonstratives for items that are far away from both the speaker and the listener (think: Over there) This is different than English.

A little rhyme to help remember Since demonstratives look similar, these rhymes will help you remember. The one with the “T”, is closer to me. (este, esta, estos, estas) This and these, have the “T’s” That and those… don’t 

Practica: Choose the correct adj. This bakery  Esta panadería That belt  Ese cinturón These scarves  Esas bufandas Those earrings  Esos aretes

Did you notice? The endings of the demonstratives match to the quantity and gender of the noun they describe. We don’t use EL/LA/LOS/LAS with demonstratives just like in English we don’t say “this the book” or “those the students”

Practicamos más That (over there) taxi  Aquel taxi Those (over there) girls  Aquellas chicas This credit card  Esta tarjeta de crédito These travelers checks  Estos cheques viajeros That quiz  Esa prueba

Above and beyond… You can actually use demonstrative adjectives without any nouns at all, if you already know what you are talking about. EX: Do you like this skirt? No, I prefer that one. The person answering already knows it’s a skirt, right? No need to repeat it.

Same in Spanish! We can use demonstratives to answer questions without including the noun. Instead of using “one/ones” after the adjective, they just add accent marks to their demonstrative adjectives.

Demostrativos w/o nouns ÉSTE ÉSTA = this one ÉSTOS ÉSTAS = these ones ÉSE ÉSA = that one ÉSOS ÉSAS = those ones AQUÉL = that one far AQUELLAS away AQUELLOS = those ones AQUELLAS far away