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 wouldnt say, I want this apples or I want that
apples.
SURPRISE! In English, you have to change
demonstrative adjectives to make them 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:
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. Dont 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). A student of mine remembered it this
way: This and these have ts; that and those dont. In
other words, the words that mean this and these have ts in
them (este, esta, estos, estas); the words that mean that and
those dont have ts in them (ese, esa, esos, esas).
Guess what: Spanish has THREE
demonstrative pronouns:
Do you want this apple?
Quieres esta manzana?
No.
No.
Do you want that apple?
Quieres esa manzana?
No. I want that apple way over there.
No. Quiero aquella manzana.
Este (this) is near the speaker.
Ese (that) is not near the speaker.
Aquel (feminine: aquella) is far away.
If you use all three, aquel is the farthest
away. But if youre not using all three, you
choose aquel rather than ese if you
want to show that something is far away.
I want to ride in that (ese) car in front of
the building, not in that (aquel) car thats
parked on the other side of next week!
ms = masculine singular
fs = feminine singular
mp = masculine plural
fp = feminine plural
ms este (this) ese (that) aquel (that way over there)
fs esta (this) esa (that) aquella (that way over there)
mp estos (these) esos (those) aquellos (those way over there)
fp estas (those) esas (those) aquellas (those way over there)
Click here to go to a brief practice.