Herramientas de la lengua
Los demostrativos
Why do you want to know this?
As the name would indicate, “demonstratives” are words that help us “demonstrate” where something is. They are quite often accompanied by pointing and gestures. Demonstratives fall into two categories: demonstrative adjectives and demonstrative pronouns
1. Demonstrative adjectives
Imagine that you’re in a store browsing through merchandise and talking to a salesperson behind the counter. As you discuss the various products, you will likely use words like, “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those.” For example:
- I’d like to try on this ring = Quiero comprar este anillo
- How much does that book cost? = ¿Cuánto cuesta ese libro?
- Whose toys are these? = ¿De quién son estos juguetes
- I want to buy three of those light bulbs way over there. = Quiero comprar aquellos focos
Three things to remember:
- We pick the adjective based on the closeness of the thing we are pointing at.
- Since it is an adjective it has to agree in gender and number.
- Demonstrative adjectives go before the noun.
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2. Demonstrative pronouns
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Let’s say that you’re in a store again shopping for a pen. Rather than say the word “pen” over and over again, you will probably use pronouns: “How much is this pen?” “How much is that one?” “What color are these?”
Here are some more examples. The first sentence includes an demonstrative adjective. The second one uses a demonstrative pronoun:
- I like this car. She prefers that one. = Me gusta este coche. Ella prefiere ese.
- I like these videos. She prefers those ones. = Me gustan estos videos. Ella prefiere esos.
- I like these trees. She prefers those.= Me gustan estos árboles. Ella prefiere aquellos.
- I like to read. She likes that too. = Me gusta leer. A ella también le gusta eso
Notice the following:
- In English we sometimes include the word “one” or “ones” with the pronouns.
- In Spanish, the pronouns that we use look very similar to the adjectives
- On the last example we are not replacing a noun but an action so we can’t use gender or number and therefore we use the neuter form “eso”
¡Practiquemos!
¡Hola! A continuación tienes algo para practicar. Debes lograr al menos 80% ¡Suerte!
This unit “Los demostrativos” was created by Alegría Ribadeneira by combining original material and sections about possessives from Spanish411.net, licensed CC BY-NC-SA and Spanish Grammar Manual by Enrique Yépez licensed CC BY-NC-SA.
