Demonstratives are words we use to signal by adding a notion of distance in space or time. There are two kinds of demonstratives: demonstratives adjectives (este vino (this wine)) and demonstrative pronouns (\u00bfqu\u00e9 es esto? (What\u2019s this?)).<\/p>\n
“Demonstrative” comes from “to demonstrate,” so this give us an idea of the function of this grammatical elemet..<\/p>\n
In this section we are going to study the demonstrative with detail. In English, \u201cthis\u201d and \u201cthese\u201d are used to refer to things or people that are close to the speaker. \u201cThat\u201d and \u201cthose\u201d are used to refer to things or people that are distant. In Spanish, there is one more group to refer to things or people that are even further.<\/p>\n
Este: Este viernes nos vamos a Escocia (This Friday we are going toScotland)<\/p>\n
Esta: Esta casa es preciosa (This house is beautiful)<\/p>\n
Estos: Estos son mis amigos (These are my friends)<\/p>\n
Estas: Estas zapatillas son m\u00edas (These sneakers are mine)<\/p>\n
Ese:Me gusta ese coche negro (I like that black car)<\/p>\n
Esa: Esa chica de all\u00ed es mi novia (That girl there is my girlfriend)<\/p>\n
Esos: No me gustan esos comentarios (I don\u2019t like those comments)<\/p>\n
Esas: Me das esas llaves\u00a0 (Could you give me those keys)<\/p>\n
Aquel: Aquel pueblo se llama Aranjuez (That village over there is called Aranjuez)<\/p>\n
Aquella: Ve por aquella calle de la derecha (Go by that street on the right)<\/p>\n
Aquellos: Aquellos ni\u00f1os son mis hijos (Those children are my sons)<\/p>\n
Aquellas: Trae aquellas botellas de all\u00ed (Bring those bottles)<\/p>\n
Demonstrative pronouns<\/span> would demonstrate the location of the noun they replace. If you have several options, let\u2019s say pens, and someone asks you which one you want, you can respond with “this one” (the one close to you), or “that one” (the one far from you). “This one” and “That one” are both demonstrative pronouns.<\/p>\n Neuter demonstrative pronouns<\/span> are used in Spanish speech to refer to concepts, ideas, or something that is not truly known. They are neuter, as they do not replace a specific noun, even though they end in “-o”. They also do not have accent unlike the other pronouns. (Esto, eso, aquello).<\/p>\n It is used to refer to inanimate things without specifying their gender or to talk about ideas or abstract concepts:<\/p>\n Esa es la idea que yo ten\u00eda en mente (that\u2019s the idea I had in mind)<\/p>\n Eso es lo que busco (That\u2019s what I was looking for)<\/p>\n Eso no lo entiedo (I don\u2019t get that)<\/p>\n Sometimes, the neuter demonstratives are not only used to refer space but time as well. From other point of view we can understand this concept as a distance in terms of time. Here you have a few examples:<\/p>\n Este s\u00e1bado es mi cumplea\u00f1os (This Saturday is my birthday)<\/p>\n Esa semana estuve enfermo (That week I was sick)<\/p>\n Nunca olvidar\u00e9 aquel d\u00eda (I won\u2019t forget that day)<\/p>\n Aquellos a\u00f1os fueron maravillosos (Those years were wonderful)<\/p>\n En aquel momento era divertido (By that time it was fun)<\/p>\n As the demonstratives are used to express distance, sometimes in speech they are used with a pejorative function. This means, to express a psychological distancing from the speaker or to make clear that the object referred is far away form the speaker, metaphorically.<\/p>\n Ten cuidado con ese idiota (Be careful with that idiot)<\/p>\n Esa tonta es muy molesta (that silly girl is annoying)<\/p>\n No me gusta ese chico (I don\u2019t like that guy)<\/p>\n No quiero saber nada de los se\u00f1ores esos (I don\u2019t want to hear anything about those gentlemen)<\/p>\n No me acerques la cosa esa (Do not take that thing any closer)<\/p>\n No quiero que hables con la chica esa (I don\u2019t want you to talk to that girl)<\/p>\n In Spanish, we use \u201ceste\u201d and \u201caquel\u201d to express the \u201cthe latter\u201d and \u201cthe former\u201d, repectively. So, when you think or read this kind of expressions you just have to place them in the specific positions. Let\u2019s see an example to illustrate this:<\/p>\n \u201cEl jefe llam\u00f3 al empleado para tartar un problema en la compa\u00f1\u00eda. Este no dijo nada mientras que aquel no par\u00f3 de hablar en toda la reuni\u00f3n\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n (The boss call the employee to treat a problem in the company. The latter did not say anything while the former did\u2019nt stop talking during the whole meeting)<\/em><\/p>\n You can realise that in this kind of situations, the demonstratives are doing the same function. \u201cEste\u201d is referring to the closest in the sentence (the employee) and \u201caquel\u201d to the other noun (the boss), which is more distant.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nDemonstratives, reference to time<\/h2>\n
Derogatory connotations<\/h2>\n
-Sometimes in this specific case, the demonstrative could go after the noun. In this situation, the noun will need an article:<\/h3>\n
How can we express \u201cthe latter\u2026and the former\u201d in Spanish<\/h2>\n