Love-Spanish.com: Tell Me, What Is That?

SCENARIO

Imagine you are with a relative, a friend or a colleague. You are looking at a pile of stuff you are putting aside to dispose of. Pointing to an item on the pile, the other person says to you something like: "tell me, what is that?".

In Spanish, he/ she could choose to be less formal and say to you:

Dime, ¿qué es eso?

On the other hand, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say to you:

Dígame, ¿qué es eso?

OUR TIP

The question is an invitation for you to say what the item in question is. When saying what something is without saying anything about who the owner is, you do not need to be concerned about the level of formality in the other person's question. You should concentrate on describing the item in question. The other person has not named it, just pointed to it. So perhaps you pick it up in your hand and say something about it.

Here are some examples of how you could reply:
- Esto* es un reproductor de MP3 (it is an MP3 player);
- Esto* es una cámara fotográfica (it is a photographic camera);
- Esto* es un teléfono inteligente (it is a smartphone);
- Esto* es un navegador GPS (it is a GPS sat nav);
- No sé lo qué es esto* (I don't know what it is);

Now you should practise replying to someone who says to you:

Dime, ¿qué es eso?

*Please see grammar below

Grammar-Demonstratives

Basically, Spanish demonstratives are equivalent to the English demonstratives “this” and “that” . Spanish demonstratives can be either adjectives or pronouns.

Demonstrative adjectives in Spanish behave and are used in much the same way as in English. The main difference between Spanish and English demonstratives is that in Spanish, demonstrative adjectives must agree in gender (masculine/ feminine) and number (singular/ plural) with the noun they describe. Spanish demonstrative pronouns must also generally agree in gender (masculine/ feminine) and number (singular/ plural) with the noun they stand for. An exception to this rule this is neuter form of Spanish demonstrative pronouns (see details below).

The following are some important considerations when using demonstratives in Spanish.

1. Near You

In Spanish, you may use the demonstrative “este” to refer to or stand for something which you consider close to you/ the speaker. This demonstrative corresponds to the English this. To allow the usual agreement with the noun it refers to/ stands for, this Spanish demonstrative adjective and pronoun have four forms each, as follows:

Demonstrative adjective

Singular	Masculine	este	this
Singular	Feminine	esta	this
Plural	Masculine	estos	these
Plural	Feminine	estas	these

Some examples of the use of this demonstrative adjective are:
- Este libro me lo regalaron (this book was given to me as a present);
- Esta camisa está sucia (this shirt is dirty);
- Estos libros los compré ayer (I bought these books yesterday);
- Estas camisas están limpias (these shirts are clean);

Demonstrative pronoun*

Singular	Masculine	éste	this one
Singular	Feminine	ésta	this one
Plural	Masculine	éstos	these ones
Plural	Feminine	éstas	these ones

Some examples of the use of this demostrative pronoun are:
- Ese lápiz está roto ¿quieres éste? (that pencil is broken, do you want this one?);
- Esa camisa está sucia ¿quieres ésta? (that shirt is dirty, do you want this one?);
- Esos pantalones están rotos ¿quieres éstos? (those trousers are torn, do you want these ones?);
- Esas zapatillas están mojadas, ¿quieres éstas? (those slippers are wet, do you want these ones?);

*NB Please note the spelling of these demonstrative pronouns (with accents) differentiates them from adjectives.

2. Near The Person(s) You Are Talking To

In Spanish, you may use the demonstrative “ese” to refer to or stand for something which you consider close to the person you are talking to. This demonstrative corresponds to the English that. To allow the usual agreement with the noun it refers to/ stands for, this Spanish demonstrative adjective and pronoun have four forms each, as follows:

Demonstrative adjective

Singular	Masculine	ese	that
Singular	Feminine	esa	that
Plural	Masculine	esos	those
Plural	Feminine	esas	those

Some examples of the use of this demonstrative adjective are:
- Ese libro me lo regalaron (that book was given to me as a present);
- Esa camisa está sucia (that shirt is dirty);
- Esos libros los compré ayer (I bought those books yesterday);
- Esas camisas están limpias (those shirts are clean);

Demonstrative pronoun*

Singular	Masculine	ése	that one
Singular	Feminine	ésa	that one
Plural	Masculine	ésos	those ones
Plural	Feminine	ésas	those ones

Some examples of the use of this demostrative pronoun are:
- Este lápiz está roto ¿me das ése? (this pencil is broken, will you pass me that one?);
- Tengo la camisa sucia ¿me das ésa? (my shirt is dirty, will you pass me that one?);
- Tengo los pantalones rotos ¿me das ésos? (my trousers are torn, will you pass me those ones?);
- Estas zapatillas están mojadas, ¿me das ésas? (these slippers are wet, will you pass me those ones?);

*NB Please note the spelling of these demonstrative pronouns (with accents) differentiates them from adjectives.

3. Not Near You (also far from the person you are talking to)

In Spanish, you may use the demonstrative “aquel” to refer to or stand for something which you consider far away from you/ the speaker and the person you are talking to. This demonstrative also corresponds to the English that. To allow the usual agreement with the noun it refers to/ stands for, this Spanish demonstrative adjective and pronoun have four forms each, as follows:

Demonstrative adjective

Singular	Masculine	aquel	that (over there)
Singular	Feminine	aquella	that (over there)
Plural	Masculine	aquellos	those (over there)
Plural	Feminine	aquellas	those (over there)

Some examples of the use of this demonstrative adjective are:
- Aquel libro me lo regalaron (that book over there was given to me as a present);
- Aquella camisa está sucia (that shirt over there is dirty);
- Aquellos libros los compré ayer (I bought those books over there yesterday);
- Aquellas camisas están limpias (those shirts over there are clean);

Demonstrative pronoun*

Singular	Masculine	aquél	that one (over there)
Singular	Feminine	aquélla	that one (over there)
Plural	Masculine	aquéllos	those ones (over there)
Plural	Feminine	aquéllas	those ones (over there)

Some examples of the use of this demonstrative pronoun are:
- Este lápiz está roto ¿me das aquél? (this pencil is broken, will you pass me that one over there?);
- Tengo la camisa sucia ¿me das aquélla? (my shirt is dirty, will you pass me that one over there?);
- Tengo los pantalones rotos ¿me das aquéllos? (my trousers are torn, will you pass me those ones over there?);
- Estas zapatillas están mojadas, ¿me das aquéllas? (these slippers are wet, will you pass me those ones over there?);

*NB Please note the spelling of these demonstrative pronouns (with accents) differentiates them from adjectives.

4. Demonstrative Pronouns-Neuter Form

In Spanish, in addition to the masculine and feminine forms of demonstrative pronouns, we also have a neuter form. The neuter form of demonstrative pronouns stands for and refers to general things rather than a specific nouns. In other words, using the neuter form of a demonstrative pronoun in Spanish is equivalent to using an English expression, such as “this thing” to refer to an item without without naming that item.

It should be noted that the neuter form of demonstrative pronouns has no plural. This form of the demonstrative pronoun is also spelled differently*. The neuter form of demonstrative pronouns is as follows:

“Esto” - This pronoun corresponds to the English “this”. You may use this pronoun to refer to or stand for something close to you, or something you have just said or done without you specifically naming it;
“Eso”- This pronoun corresponds to the English “that”. You may use this pronoun to refer to or stand for something close to the person you are talking to, or something that person has just said or done, without you specifically naming it;
“Aquello” - This pronoun corresponds to the English “that”. You may use this pronoun to refer to or stand for something distant from you and the person you are talking to, or something you or that person have said or done in the past without specifically naming it;

Some examples of the use of the neuter form of demonstrative pronouns are:
- Esto no funciona (this is not working – “this” could refer to an item of hardware, a particular arrangement, etc.);
- Toma esto (take this - “this” could refer to anything you are handing over but you don't want to name specifically);
- Eso no me gusta (I don't like that - “that” could refer to anything you don't like, but you don't want to name specifically);
- ¿Qué quiere decir eso? (what does that mean ?- “that” could refer to something the other person has just said);
- Quería aquello (I would like that - “that” could refer to something you want but don't want to name specifically, maybe just point to it);
- No quise decir aquello (I did not mean to say that - “that” refers to something you said in the past);

*NB Please note the spelling of the neuter from of demonstrative pronouns (without accents) differentiates them from masculine form of other demonstrative pronouns.

5. Demonstrative Pronouns-Neuter Form (with 'de')

The combination of a neuter form of demonstrative pronouns followed by the preposition “de” may be used to translate English expressions such as “the business of”, “the matter of”, “the question of” or similar.

Some examples of the use of the combination of a neuter demonstrative pronoun followed by the preposition “de” are:
- Con esto de los deberes aprendo español mucho mejor (with this business of homework, I learn Spanish much better);
- ¿Que te parece eso de trabajar y estudiar? (what is your opinion on that subject of working and studying?);
- En que quedó aquello de trabajar los fines de semana? (how did that business of working weekends end up?);