Kilo Lingo
Part of Chapter 15

CEFR A2-B1

4 min read

Test yourself (27 questions)

Demonstrative Pronouns

A demonstrative points at something: this book, that car, that house over there. Spanish does this with three words where English has two, and the gap is exactly where English speakers slip.

The three-way system

English has a two-way split: near (this) and not-near (that). Spanish has three:

  • - near me, the speaker. This one, here.
  • - near you, the listener, or a middle distance. That one, by you.
  • - far from both of us, in space or in time. That one over there.

The third slot, , has no clean English equivalent, so learners squash it into "that" and never use it. Train yourself to reach for whenever the thing is genuinely far off, or far back in time.

Adjective or pronoun?

The same words do two jobs.

As an adjective, the demonstrative sits in front of a noun: (this book), (that house), (those cars over there).

As a pronoun, it stands in for the noun, which has already been mentioned: (I want this one), (I prefer that one), Me (I like that one over there). The pronoun still agrees in gender and number with the noun it replaces.

  • ¿ ? . (Which book do you want? This one.)
  • No me , . (I don't like that shirt, I prefer that one over there.)

The full table

The forms change for gender and number, exactly as adjectives do. The neuter row at the bottom is the odd one out.

DistanceMasc. sing.Fem. sing.Masc. pl.Fem. pl.Neuter
near me
near you
over there

A trick worth keeping: the in - points to tú (you, near), and the a in aquel points further away. Wobbly, but it sticks.

The neuter: esto, eso, aquello

The neuter forms - , , - do not replace a specific noun. They point at an idea, a whole situation, or a thing you cannot name.

  • ¿ ? (What is this?) - you don't know what the object is, so no gender to agree with.
  • no . (That is not true.) - "that" is a statement, not a thing.
  • . (That was a disaster.) - "that" is a past event seen from a distance.

The neuter forms never take a written accent, and they never change for gender or number. There is nothing for them to agree with.

The accent: now optional

This is the part the old textbooks get wrong. For decades, the rule was to put a written accent on the pronoun - , , - to tell it apart from the adjective. In 2010 the RAE (Real Academia Española) ruled that this accent is optional, because context already makes the meaning clear.

  • Old style: . (I want this one.)
  • Current style: . (I want this one.)

Both are accepted. Current guidance is to drop the accent. The neuter forms - , , - never carried an accent in the first place, so nothing changes there. If you see in an older novel, it is not a typo; it is the pre-2010 convention.

Worked examples

  • ; . (This one is my car; that one over there is yours.) - two cars at different distances.
  • , . (Of all the flats, that one is the best.) - the flat near the listener, or one just mentioned.
  • No . (I don't want to talk about that.) - neuter, because "that" is a topic, not a thing.
  • . (Those days were happy.) - aquel for time far back.

Common mistakes English speakers make

Skipping . The biggest one. Because English has no third word, learners use for everything that is not right next to them. If the thing is across the room, far down the street, or years ago, it is .

Using a gendered form for an idea. "What is this?" about an unknown object is ¿ ?, never ¿ ? When there is no noun to agree with, you need the neuter.

Adding the accent out of habit. If a textbook drilled into you, you can let it go. The plain spelling is now correct, and the neuter forms never took an accent anyway.

See also

  • The ser vs estar page covers the other classic split that English does not prepare you for.
  • The superlatives page shows how to say "the best one" and "the most ..." once you can point at things.
  • The Spanish grammar cheatsheet has the full demonstrative table on one card.

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/10

Pick the demonstrative pronoun that fits the distance or, where there is no noun to agree with, the neuter form.

  1. ¿Qué libro quieres? , el que tengo aquí en la mano.

  2. No me gusta ese coche; prefiero , el de allí a lo lejos.

  3. ¿Qué es ? No sé qué cosa es.

  4. no es verdad, lo que acabas de decir.

  5. Me gusta el piso que tienes cerca de ti: es el mejor.

  6. fue un problema; todo aquel día salió mal.

  7. ¿Qué piso quieres? , el que está cerca de mí.

  8. No me gusta este coche; quiero , el de allí a lo lejos.

  9. que dices no tiene sentido.

  10. De los dos libros, prefiero , el que tienes en la mano.

Fill in the blank

0/9

Fill the gap with the right demonstrative pronoun. Remember the neuter esto, eso, aquello for an idea or unnamed thing, and no accents on any of them.

  1. Este es mi coche; es el tuyo, el de allá lejos. (far from both of us)

  2. De todos los pisos, es el mejor, el que está cerca de ti. (near the listener)

  3. No quiero hablar de , no es asunto tuyo. (a topic, not a noun)

  4. ¿Qué es ? No reconozco esta cosa. (an unnamed thing)

  5. Quiero , el libro que tengo aquí delante. (near me, the speaker)

  6. Me gusta tu coche, pero prefiero , el de allí a lo lejos. (far from both, masc sg)

  7. De estas dos casas, quiero , la que tienes cerca de ti. (near the listener, fem sg)

  8. ¿Qué es ? No reconozco esta situación. (an unnamed idea)

  9. No estoy de acuerdo con , lo que acabas de decir. (a statement, not a noun)

Translation drill

0/8

Translate into Spanish. Use the three-way system and the neuter forms where English cannot tell them apart, and drop the optional accent on the pronouns.

  1. I want this one.

  2. I like that one over there.

  3. What is this?

  4. That is not true.

  5. That was a problem.

  6. I prefer that one near you.

  7. I don't want to talk about that.

  8. Which book do you want? This one.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between este, ese and aquel?
They mark three distances. Este is near the speaker (this one, here by me), ese is near the listener or a middle distance (that one, by you), and aquel is far from both speaker and listener (that one over there). English collapses ese and aquel into a single that, which is why learners under-use aquel. If the thing is across the room or far in time, reach for aquel.
When do I use esto, eso and aquello?
Use the neuter forms - esto, eso, aquello - when you are pointing at an idea, a whole situation, or a thing you cannot yet name. ¿Qué es esto? (What is this?) asks about an unidentified object. Eso no es verdad (that is not true) refers to a statement, not a noun. The neuter forms never change for gender or number and they never carry a written accent, because there is no adjective form to confuse them with.
Does the demonstrative pronoun still take an accent?
Not any more, as a rule. The RAE ruled in 2010 that the written accent on este, ese, aquel and their forms is optional even when they work as pronouns. Older textbooks write éste, ése, aquél to mark the pronoun apart from the adjective; current guidance is to drop it. You will still see the accented spellings in older texts and they are not wrong, just no longer required.