Demonstrative adjectives are used to express the distance of an object from the speaker.

To indicate the noun is “here” English uses the nouns “this” and “these”

This book is mine. These exams are graded.

To indicate the noun is “there”, English uses the nouns “that” and “those”

That student is happy. Those students are bored.

Unlike the English language, which only has two distances, the Spanish language has three distances:

“here close to me” (this / these)

“there” (that /those)“the ones far away” (that/those over there)

Demonstrative adjectives are generally placed in front of the noun they describe and agree in gender (masculine / feminine) & number (singular / plural) with the noun.

herehere

(this/(this/these)these)

fartherfarther

(that/(that/those)those)

farthestfarthest

(that/those (that/those over there)over there)

SingulaSingular (m)r (m)

(f)(f)

esteeste eseese aquelaquel

estaesta esaesa aquellaaquella

PluralPlural

(m)(m)

(f)(f)

estosestos esosesos aquellosaquellos

estasestas esasesas aquellasaquellas

Spanish Spanish distancedistance

English English equivalentequivalent

DemonstrativDemonstrativeses

aquíaquí herehere este, esta, este, esta, estos, estasestos, estas

allíallí therethere ese, esa, ese, esa, esos, esasesos, esas

alláallá way over way over therethere

aquel, aquel, aquella, aquella, aquellos, aquellos, aquellasaquellas

Esa falda es azul. (That skirt is blue.)

Ese traje es negro. (That suit is black.)

Esta película es muy romántica. (This movie is very romantic.)

Este video es interesante. (This video is interesting.)

Aquellas familias necesitan comida. (Those families over there need food.)

Aquel país tiene muchos problemas. (That country over there has lots of problems)

The Spanish words for “this” and “these” have “t‘”s. “That” and “those” don't.

En la calle, hay tres coches. _______ coche aquí es azul, _______ coche allí es rojo, y

______ coche más allá es amarillo.

that shirt esa camisa those stores over there aquellas tiendas that cash register over

there aquella caja this check este cheque that market ese mercado this size esta talla