This is the twenty-sixth lesson in our beginner level Spanish course and we will look at the Demonstrative Adjectives This That These Those in Spanish.
We will practice the demonstrative adjectives in Spanish using the vocabulary we learned in the previous lesson related to clothing in Spanish and also review other vocabulary and verbs we have seen already.
Demonstrative Adjectives: This That These Those in Spanish
Knowing how to correctly use This That These Those in Spanish is essential as these demonstrative adjectives pop up all the time in everyday conversation situations.
First, let’s remind ourselves of the Spanish clothing vocabulary we saw in the previous lesson:
La camisa: shirt
La camiseta: t-shirt
La blusa: blouse
El jersey/El suéter: jumper, sweater
La chaqueta: jacket
El abrigo: coat
Los pantalones: pants, trousers
Los vaqueros: jeans
Los pantalones cortos: shorts
La falda: skirt
El vestido: dress
Los zapatos: shoes
Las deportivas: sneakers, trainers
Las botas: boots
Los calcetines: socks
Las medias: tights
El sombrero: hat
El gorro: woolly hat
La gorra: cap
El traje: suit
La corbata: tie
Los calzoncillos: underpants
Las bragas: knickers
El sujetador: bra
Next, let’s see This That These Those in Spanish:
Este/a: This
Ese/a: That
Estos/as: These
Esos/as: Those
This That These Those in Spanish: Masculine and feminine
With each Demonstrative Adjective in Spanish, you will see that there are different ending options.
Back in Lesson 6 of this course which focused on El verbo Querer (To want) we learned that every noun (thing) in Spanish is either masculine or feminine.
It is important to be aware of the gender of each noun you are using as other elements of your sentence will need to be altered according to this.
Some adjectives (words that add a description to other words) change according to the gender of the word they describe and as This That These Those in Spanish are types of adjective this is why they may need to change their ending.
- Este (This) is used to describe masculine nouns.
For example: Este traje: This suit
- Este (This) changes to Esta (This) if the noun is feminine.
For example: Esta corbata: This tie
- Estos (These) is used to describe plural masculine nouns.
For example: Estos calcetines: These socks
- Estos (These) changes to Estas (These) if the nouns are feminine.
For example: Estas faldas: These skirts
Let’s practice the use of the Spanish Demonstrative Adjectives making some sentences using Este/a Ese/a Estos/as Esos/as using clothing vocabulary, the colours, prices, and the verbs Querer (To want) and Tener (To have).
The following conversation takes place in a clothes shop:
- ¿Tenéis esta chaqueta en rojo?: Do you have this jacket in red?
- No, lo siento. No tenemos esta chaqueta en rojo: No, I’m sorry. We don’t have this jacket in red
- ¿Tenéis esa chaqueta en rojo? Do you have that jacket in red?
- Sí, esa chaqueta tenemos en rojo: Yes, that jacket we do have in red
- Y estos pantalones… ¿tenéis estos pantalones en azul?: And these trousers… do you have these trousers in blue?
- Estos pantalones no, pero tenemos esos pantalones en azul: These trousers no, but we do have those trousers in blue.
- Perfecto, muchas gracias. Quiero la chaqueta roja y los pantalones azules: Perfect, thank you. I want the red jacket and the blue trousers.
- Muy bien: Very good.
- ¿Cuánto es en total?: How much is it in total?
- Noventa y ocho con cincuenta: €98.50
Demonstrative adjectives in Spanish: Practice makes perfect
Correctly using This That These Those in Spanish is an important skill that does take some practice.
Demonstrative adjectives in Spanish and the masculine and feminine are a challenge for sure, but they are fundamental to the Spanish language and we recommend paying attention to them and practicing using them as much as possible by writing your own practice sentences early on in your studies so that they become second nature.
