In Spanish, to express this, this one or these ones we use the demonstrative pronouns: este, esta, estos, estas and esto.
As with all pronouns they are not accompanied by a noun. The noun they refer to will have been mentioned before.
Have a look and listen to these examples:
Este coche es feo, sin embargo este me encanta.
This car is ugly, however, I love this one.
La niña rubia es María y esta es Claudia.
The blond girl is María and this one is Claudia.
Estos cuadernos son para el profesor y estos son para los alumnos.
These notebooks are for the teacher and these ones are for the students.
Estas chicas vienen a una reunión y estas vienen a una entrevista.
These girls are coming for a meeting and these ones for an interview.
The pronouns agree in gender and number with the noun they are refering to:
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|
Singular (this one) |
este |
esta |
|
Plural (these ones) |
estos |
estas |
Referring to an idea
When the pronoun is refering to an idea, then we use the neutral pronoun esto, and there is only one form. It could be translated as "this thing".
Have a look and listen to the following examples:
Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
Esto es muy desagradable.
This is very unpleasant.
Estas chicas vienen a una reunión y estas vienen a una entrevista.
These girls are coming for a meeting and these ones for an interview.
Esto no es lo que yo dije.
This is not what I said.
Este coche es feo, sin embargo este me encanta.
This car is ugly, however, I love this one.
Estos cuadernos son para el profesor y estos son para los alumnos.
These notebooks are for the teacher and these ones are for the students.
Esto es muy útil.
This is very useful.
La niña rubia es María y esta es Claudia.
The blond girl is María and this one is Claudia.
Lyn
Kwiziq community member
11 April 2019
2 replies
Using demonstrative pronouns: este/esta & sacamos/tomamos
Tomamos esa foto en Madrid pero tomamos éste en Barcelona.Please, why is este marked wrong and esta given as the correct one? I can't work out why foto (masc) has esta (female) and not este. Is it because its BarcelonA?
And why sacamos and not tomamos?
Gracias.
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
12 April 2019
12/04/19
Hola Lyn
"Foto" is a feminine noun, although it looks masculine because of its ending -o.
The noun foto is short for "fotografía" (photography) -> la foto, esta foto, esa foto...
In regards to sacar or tomar fotos, they are both correct. Tomar is maybe more commonly used in Latin America.
Hope this helps.
Saludos
Inma
Lyn
Kwiziq community member
12 April 2019
12/04/19
Thank you Inma for your prompt and helpful reply. Now I understand!
Felicitations
Lyn