Demonstratives: aquest, aqueix, aquell — and "ho" for what was said
Three degrees of distance. Aquest/aquesta — this, near me: aquest telèfon. Aqueix/aqueixa — that, nearer to you the listener: aqueixa clau que tens?. Aquell/aquella — that, far from both of us: aquella casa. For example: “Aquest telèfon és el meu, aquell és el teu” — This phone is mine, that one over there is yours. A rule from the Catalan course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Three degrees of distance. Aquest/aquesta — this, near me: aquest telèfon. Aqueix/aqueixa — that, nearer to you the listener: aqueixa clau que tens?. Aquell/aquella — that, far from both of us: aquella casa.
Spanish lives on "este, ese, aquel" — Catalan has all three of its own, and all three alive. And about what has been said in words speaks the neutral ho: "Això no ho sé" — that (what you asked about) I do not know. "Això" names the topic, "ho" replaces it inside the phrase.
By example
- Aquest telèfon és el meu, aquell és el teuThis phone is mine, that one over there is yours
- Aqueixa capsa és gran, aquella és petitaThis box (by you) is big, that one over there is small
- — Arribem demà a les vuit. — Això no ho sabia— We arrive tomorrow at eight. — I did not know that
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Demonstratives: how does it work in Catalan?
Three degrees of distance. Aquest/aquesta — this, near me: aquest telèfon. Aqueix/aqueixa — that, nearer to you the listener: aqueixa clau que tens?. Aquell/aquella — that, far from both of us: aquella casa.
What does it look like in an example sentence Catalan?
“Aquest telèfon és el meu, aquell és el teu” — This phone is mine, that one over there is yours. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.