Hola, feliz sábado 👋🏻
Espero que estés muy bien. Bienvenido/a a Master Spanish Weekly.
A weekly email with useful Spanish and cultural references, plus short practice, so Spanish becomes part of your day.
This week's newsletter almost got away from me. I didn't have much time to sit and write it. But I wasn't going to skip it. So grab your coffee, and let's learn something quick.
This week’s lesson
🧠 Demostrativos: Spanish Gives You More Options Than English
Let's talk about demostrativos. You know, the little words you put before a noun to point at something. This car. That house. These shoes.
In English, it's very straightforward:
This → close to you (singular) / These → close to you (plural)
That → far from you (singular) / Those → far from you (plural)
Two distances. Four words. Done.
Now, do you know how many we have in Spanish?
Three distances. Not two. Three.
Here's the breakdown:
Gender and Number | Close to me | Not too far, not too close | Very far |
|---|---|---|---|
Masculine singular | este | ese | aquel |
Feminine singular | esta | esa | aquella |
Masculine plural | estos | esos | aquellos |
Feminine plural | estas | esas | aquellas |
Este libro → This book (right here in my hands)
Ese libro → That book (on the table near you)
Aquel libro → That book (way over there on the shelf)
In English, "that book" covers both. In Spanish, you have to choose: ¿ese o aquel?
A few things to keep in mind:
1. They match the noun in gender and number. Just like adjectives. If the noun is feminine and plural, the demostrativo is too:
estas casas, esas sillas, aquellas montañas.
2. The neutral forms: esto, eso, aquello are for ideas, situations, or things you don't name:
¿Qué es esto? (What is this?)
Eso es lo que dije. (That's what I said.)
Aquello fue increíble. (That [thing back then] was incredible.)
Notice: esto, eso, aquello never change. No gender, no plural. They always stay the same.
The logic is simple: how close is it, and what gender is the noun? Answer those two questions, and you've got it.
Let’s test your knowledge!
🧩 Mini Quiz: Pick the Right 'Demostrativo'
1. You're holding a pen. You say: "___ bolígrafo es mío."
a) Este b) Ese c) Aquel
2. You point to mountains far in the distance: "Mira ___ montañas."
a) estas b) esas c) aquellas
3. Your friend is wearing a nice shirt. You say: "Me gusta ___ camisa."
a) esta b) esa c) aquella
4. Something confusing just happened. You say: "¿Qué es ___?"
a) este b) esta c) esto
5. You're at a restaurant. The table next to you has a dish that looks good. You tell the waiter: "Quiero ___ ."
a) esto b) eso c) aquello
Gracias!
Gracias por abrir y leer este correos. Espero que la clase de hoy te ayude a mejorar un poco tu Español.
Nos vemos la próxima semana.
Alejandro Nunez
