What is a demonstrative adjective?

Demonstrative adjectives are used to designate things or people. In Spanish, demonstrative adjectives are placed before the noun they designate. They agree in number and gender with the designated object.

Examples :

• Mi tío compró esta casa. My uncle bought this house.
• ¿Me podrías pasar esos libros por favor? Could you please give me these books?
• Aquellas chicas juegan football. These girls play soccer.

How are demonstrative adjectives classified in Spanish

In English there is only one type of demonstrative adjective (this/that/that/those), whereas in Spanish there are several.

In Spanish they vary according to the degree of distance in time and space between the person speaking (the speaker) and the things he/she is talking about (the designated object). They can therefore be associated with adverbs of place.

Demonstrative adjectives can be classified into three categories:

• the speaker is close to the objects he/she is talking about;
• the speaker is relatively close to the objects he/she is talking about;
• the speaker is far from the objects he or she is talking about.

The three categories of demonstrative adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives close to the speaker

The demonstrative adjectives of the first category are used to designate an object close in time and/or space to the speaker.

The referent adverb of place is “aquí”/”acá” (here, very close).

As a rule, these adjectives are used in sentences constructed in the present tense.

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	Este	Estos
Feminine	Esta	Estas
Neutral	Esto

Examples :

• Este perro es muy tierno. (This dog is very cute).
• Estas hojas no son mías. (These leaves are not mine).

Demonstrative adjectives slightly distant from the speaker

The demonstrative adjectives of the second category are used to designate an object relatively close to the speaker.

They take us slightly away from the speaker but bring us closer to the interlocutor.

The referent adverb of place is “ahí” (there, not very far).

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	Ese	Esos
Féminine	Esa	Esas
Neutral	Eso

Examples :

• Me encantan esos vestidos. I love these dresses.
• Esas joyas son preciosas. These jewels are beautiful.

Placed after the noun the demonstrative adjective “ese” can induce a pejorative notion.

• ¡Odio el libro ese! I hate this book!

Demonstrative adjectives far from the speaker

The demonstrative adjectives of the third category are used to designate an object or a person distant from the speaker in space and/or time.

The referent adverb of place is “allí”/”allá” (there, far away).

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	Aquel	Aquellos
Feminine	Aquella	Aquellas
Neutral	Aquello	Aquellos

Examples :

• Aquella noche celebramos su titulación. That night we celebrated his graduation.
• Aquellos niños son muy inquietos. These children are very restless.

The importance of conjugation with demonstrative adjectives

In Spanish, conjugation can be used to reinforce the notion of spatial and temporal distance of demonstrative adjectives.

Indeed, the past and future tenses support the notion of distance. In the sentence “Aquella noche celebramos su titulación”, the speaker understands that the action took place several weeks, months or years ago.

The near future tense allows the speaker to note a relatively close distance. By using it with demonstrative adjectives of the second category, the speaker marks a slight temporal distance.

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