Los Adjetivos Demostrativos (Demonstrative Adjectives)

Los Adjetivos Demostrativos Point out persons, places or things relative to the position of the speaker – distance from the speaker. They always agree in number and gender with the noun they modify. Always come in front of the noun.

Which flag? – THIS flag. ¿Cuál bandera? Esta bandera Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns DEMONSTRATE where things are in relation to a person speaking.

English has two sets of demonstrative pronouns: Do you want THIS apple? ¿Quieres esta manzana?  No, I want THAT apple. No, yo quiero esa manzana.

But what if there are TWO apples? You wouldn’t say, “I want this apple s ” or “I want that apple s.” You have to change demonstrative adjectives to make them agree in number with the noun: I want THIS apple. BUT... I want THESE apples. Yo quiero ESTA manzana.... Yo quiero ESAS manzanas.

Guess what: Spanish has THREE demonstrative pronouns: Do you want this apple? ¿Quieres esta manzana? No. Do you want that apple? ¿Quieres esa manzana? No. I want that apple way over there. No. Quiero aquella manzana.

Spanish Demonstrative Adjectives: masc. sing.este (this)ese (that) fem. sing. esta (this)esa (that) masc. pl. estos (these)esos (those) fem. pl. estas (these)esas (those) Watch out for the masculine forms: remember that, while the masculine singular ends in –e, the plural ends in –os. Don’t get mixed up and write “esto” or “estes.” Notice that the only difference between “este” and “ese”, “esta” and “esa,” etc., is the “t”. Take the “t” out of “este” (this), and you have “ese” (that). ‘This’ and ‘these’ have t’s; ‘that’ and ‘those’ do not.”

“Este/Esta” (“this”) is near the speaker. “Ese/Esa” (“that”) is not near the speaker. “Aquel/Aquella” is very far away.

Este libro es fácil de leer. This book is easy to read. Esos libros son difíciles de leer. Those books are difficult to read. Aquellos libros son aburridos. Those books (over there) are boring. Los Adjetivos Demostrativos

1.I want this shirt. 2.She wants that shirt. 3.They want those shirts over there. Yo quiero esta camisa. Ella quiere esa camisa. Ellos quieren aquellas camisas. 4.We prefer these books. 5.You guys prefer those books. 6.But Luis prefers those books way over there. Nosotros preferimos estos libros. Vosotros preferís esos libros. Pero Luis prefiere aquellos libros.

1.This page is Manuel’s. 2.Who is that girl? 3.Those people over there are his siblings. Esta página es de Manuel. ¿Quién es esa chica? Aquellas personas son sus hermanos. 4.I have to buy this videogame. 5.No, you should buy that videogame 6.I think that I like that videogame over there. Tengo que comprar este videojuego. No, debes comprar ese videojuego. Creo que me gusta aquel videojuego.

“This and these have T’s, these and those do not”