The Animated Book
of SpanishGrammar Reference

Spanish Demonstratives

Adapted from The Animated Book of Spanish, an interactive Spanish grammar book.

Demonstratives are the words for this, that, these, and those. English has two distances, but Spanish has three: close to you, a little farther, and far away.
Near meeste, estathisaquí = here
este librothis book
Near you, or not so closeese, esathatahí = there
ese librothat book
Far from both of usaquel, aquellathat (over there)allí = over there
aquel librothat book over there
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The forms

Like adjectives, demonstratives match the noun in gender and number, and they go before it: esta casa, esos libros.

The Spanish demonstratives, masculine and feminine, singular and plural
MeaningMasculineFeminine
this / theseeste, estosesta, estas
that / thoseese, esosesa, esas
that / thoseover thereaquel, aquellosaquella, aquellas

  • Esta casa es muy bonita.

    This house is really pretty.

  • ¿Cuánto cuestan esos zapatos?

    How much are those shoes?

  • Aquellas montañas son los Andes.

    Those mountains over there are the Andes.

Ese or aquel?

Both translate as that. In everyday conversation, ese covers most of it. Aquel is for things clearly far from both you and the person you're talking to, often when you're pointing.

  1. Near you: ese
    ¿Me pasas esa botella?

    Can you pass me that bottle?

    Far from both: aquel
    ¿Ves aquella casa en la colina?

    Do you see that house on the hill?

  2. Near you: ese
    Ese abrigo te queda bien.

    That coat looks good on you.

    Far from both: aquel
    Aquel edificio es el museo.

    That building over there is the museum.

Distance in time

The same three distances work for time. Este is now, ese is a time you just mentioned, and aquel is the distant past, like back then.

  • Este año voy a aprender a nadar.

    This year I’m going to learn to swim.

  • Llegué el lunes, y esa noche fuimos a cenar.

    I arrived on Monday, and that night we went out to dinner.

  • En aquella época no había internet.

    Back then, there was no internet.

This one, that one

Without a noun, demonstratives mean this one or that one. They still match the gender of the thing you mean.

  • No quiero ese pastel, quiero este.

    I don’t want that cake, I want this one.

  • ¿Qué camisa prefieres? —Esa.

    Which shirt do you prefer? —That one.

  • Estos son mis hijos.

    These are my kids.

The neuter forms: esto, eso, aquello

The neuter forms are for things you haven't named yet (so there's no gender to match), and for ideas or situations. They never go before a noun, and they have no plural. They're also how Spanish often says it about something specific.

  • ¿Qué es esto?

    What is this?

  • Eso es verdad.

    That’s true.

  • No entiendo nada de aquello.

    I don’t understand any of that.

Aquí, ahí, allí

The words for here and there follow the same three distances, so they pair naturally with este, ese, and aquel.

  • aquíhere (near me)
  • ahíthere (near you)
  • allíover there (far from both)

  • Ven aquí.

    Come here.

  • Deja la bolsa ahí.

    Leave the bag there.

  • Mis abuelos viven allí.

    My grandparents live over there.

Common mistakes English speakers make

  1. Using esto before a noun

    Incorrect:Esto libro es mío.
    Correct:Este libro es mío.

    Before a masculine noun, it's este. Esto never goes with a noun.

  2. Not matching the gender

    Incorrect:Este casa es bonita.
    Correct:Esta casa es bonita.

    Casa is feminine, so it takes esta.

  3. Forgetting the plural

    Incorrect:Me gustan este zapatos.
    Correct:Me gustan estos zapatos.

    With a plural noun, the demonstrative is plural too.

  4. Using eso for a person

    Incorrect:¿Quién es eso?
    Correct:¿Quién es ese?

    Eso is for things and ideas. For a person, use ese or esa.

  5. Translating “that” as eso in the middle of a sentence

    Incorrect:Creo eso viene.
    Correct:Creo que viene.

    When that connects two parts of a sentence (I think that…), it's que.

Questions about demonstratives

What are the demonstratives in Spanish?

They're the words for "this," "that," "these," and "those": este (this), ese (that), and aquel (that over there), each with feminine and plural forms (esta, estos, estas…). There are also neuter forms for ideas and unknown things: esto, eso, aquello.

What is the difference between ese and aquel?

Both mean "that." Ese is for things near the person you're talking to, or just not close to you. Aquel is for things far from both of you, or far back in time: aquel verano ("that summer, back then"). In everyday speech, ese is much more common.

What is the difference between este and esto?

Este is masculine and goes with a masculine noun (este libro) or replaces one (quiero este). Esto is neuter: it never goes with a noun, and it's for ideas or things you haven't named: ¿Qué es esto? ("What is this?").

Do este and ese have accents?

Not anymore. Older texts wrote éste and ése when they were used without a noun ("this one"), but the Real Academia Española dropped that rule in 2010. Today, este and ese are written without accents in every case.

How do you remember este vs ese?

A popular trick: "this" and "these" have t's, and so do este and estos. "That" and "those" don't have a second t, and neither do ese and esos.

Next upPossessivesMi, tu, su, nuestro, the long forms mío and tuyo, possession with de, and clearing up su.

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