This, that and that one over there
English points two ways — 'this' and 'that'. Spanish points three, and the third is no luxury: este — the thing near me, ese — near the listener, aquel — far from both. Este teléfono — the one in my hand; ese cargador — the one in yours; aquella tienda — the shop at the far end of the street. English 'that' covers both ese and aquel, and the choice between them is made not by metres but by whose side the thing is…
How it works
English points two ways — 'this' and 'that'. Spanish points three, and the third is no luxury: este — the thing near me, ese — near the listener, aquel — far from both. Este teléfono — the one in my hand; ese cargador — the one in yours; aquella tienda — the shop at the far end of the street. English 'that' covers both ese and aquel, and the choice between them is made not by metres but by whose side the thing is on.
Each of the three has four forms, because the demonstrative agrees with its noun: este botón, esta pantalla, estos cables, estas fotos. The same rows exist for ese and aquel. Beside them stands a row of adverbs built exactly the same way: aquí (here, by me), ahí (there, by you), allí (way over there). The pairs este… aquí and ese… ahí keep company, and the adverb always shows which demonstrative is asking to be used.
Separately stand the genderless forms: esto, eso, aquello. They do not point at a named thing but at a situation, an unidentified object or what was just said: ¿qué es esto?, eso es todo, no digas eso. That is why esto cannot be put before a noun: esto libro is a mistake — you need este libro.
And the reason these words outlive the first week: ese and eso refer back to what was said earlier. Eso que dices no es verdad — 'that thing you are saying'. Talk about something already named goes through ese, not este; este in that role sounds as if the thing were right before the speaker's eyes this second.
Table
| near me | near you | far from both | |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine, singular | este | ese | aquel |
| feminine, singular | esta | esa | aquella |
| masculine, plural | estos | esos | aquellos |
| feminine, plural | estas | esas | aquellas |
| no gender | esto | eso | aquello |
| place adverb | aquí | ahí | allí |
By example
- Este cargador es mío, ese es de mi hermanaThis charger is mine, that one is my sister's
- Aquella iglesia del final de la calle es del siglo quinceThat church at the end of the street is from the fifteenth century
- ¿Qué es esto? No he pedido nada de esoWhat is this? I didn't order anything of the sort
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
This, that and that one over there: how does it work in Spanish?
English points two ways — 'this' and 'that'. Spanish points three, and the third is no luxury: este — the thing near me, ese — near the listener, aquel — far from both. Este teléfono — the one in my hand; ese cargador — the one in yours; aquella tienda — the shop at the far end of the street.…
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Este cargador es mío, ese es de mi hermana” — This charger is mine, that one is my sister's. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.