| near the speaker | not too far, often near the person being addressed |
remote | |||
| this este esta |
these estos estas |
that ese esa |
those esos esas |
that over there aquel aquella |
those over there aquellos aquellas |
| esto | eso | aquello | |||
| Pienso llevar estos libros a la biblioteca. ¿Por qué quieres leer ese poema? ¿Quién es aquel señor? Aquellos árboles son pinos. |
I’m planning to take these books to the library. Why do you want to read that poem? Who is that gentleman? Those trees over there are pine trees. |
• The same words are used as pronouns (accent marks can be used to indicate they are pronouns in cases of potential misunderstanding):
| Esa foto es buena, pero prefiero esta. Este restaurante está cerrado, pero aquel no. |
That photo is good, but I prefer this one. This restaurant is closed, but that one isn’t. |
| The neuter pronouns esto, eso and aquello are invariable. They are used to refer to unidentified objects (gender unspecified), ideas or situations in a general sense: | |
| ¿Qué es eso que tienes en la mano? ¿Esto? Es un celular supermoderno. No estoy de acuerdo con eso. |
What’s that (thing) you have in your hand? This? It’s an ultramodern cell phone. I do not agree with that. |
• Spanish uses definite articles for expressions like “those who…”:
| Los que leen mucho, aprenden. El que busca, encuentra. |
Those who read a lot, learn. The one who seeks, will find. |
• English “like this/that” is usually expressed by así:
| Un problema así. ¿Siempre habla así? |
A problem like this. Does she/he always speak like that? |
Practice
Translate.
| 1. Those who serve are happy. I smile when I serve. 2. Are you planning (use pensar) to buy this cell phone? No, I prefer that one. 3. Do you understand these poems? Yes, and I want to read those, too. 4. What do you think of the national economy? Oh, I do not understand much about (de) that. 5. What is that? This is an ultramodern electronic watch. It works (funciona) like this. 6. Do you see those tourists over there? What is their (su) nationality? 7. Some of these short stories begin very interestingly. |
(source)