Almost as soon as you start studying Spanish, you’re bound to notice something frustrating: Many words look similar! This is especially true for the Spanish words for this, that, these, and the verb estar (one of the verbs meaning “to be”).
Here’s everything you need to tell these words apart and choose the one you want!
In this post:
- Overview of Spanish demonstratives
- Words for this and these (este, esta, etc.)
- Words for that and those (ese, esa, etc.)
- Verb estar (to be) and its conjugation (estoy, estás, está, etc.)
Spanish demonstratives and how they work
The words for this, that, these, and those are adjectives and nouns, and just like with all Spanish adjectives and nouns, you’ll need to keep the following in mind:
- Grammatical gender: Is the noun masculine or feminine?
- Number: Is the noun singular or plural?
(Still learning which nouns are masculine and feminine? There are patterns to look for!)
Just like in English, Spanish uses versions of this and these to talk about things that are close or relevant to the speaker. They can be physically closer to you (this book vs. that book), closer in terms of time (this year vs. that year), or more important to the conversation for another reason (this idea vs. that idea). Spanish works like this, too!
Here’s how you’ll use that information to find the right form of the word.
Spanish words for this and these
English has a word for singular nouns (this) and plural nouns (these)—and Spanish takes it a step further by also changing words according to gender. Here are the Spanish words for this:
| Word for this | Example | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine singular | este | Este libro es mi favorito. | This book is my favorite. |
| Feminine singular | esta | Esta casa es nueva. | This house is new. |
There are also different forms for these (the plural form of this) depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine:
| Word for these | Example | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine plural | estos | Estos libros son mis favoritos. | These books are my favorites. |
| Feminine plural | estas | Estas casas son nuevas. | These houses are new. |
How to say this one and these ones
Note that este, esta, estos, and estas can all be used without a noun following them to mean “this” or “this one.”
| Word for this (one) and these (ones) | Meaning | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine singular | este | this one | Este es mi juguete favorito. This (one) is my favorite toy. |
| Masculine plural | estos | these ones | Estos son mis colores favoritos. These (ones) are my favorite colors. |
| Feminine singular | esta | this one | Esta es mi canción favorita. This (one) is my favorite song. |
| Feminine plural | estas | these ones | Estas son mis galletas favoritas. These (ones) are my favorite cookies. |
You might also see the above words spelled with an accent mark: éste, éstos, ésta, and éstas. This used to be the standard way to write them, but now the standard is without a written accent!
Esto and estos
Finally, there are two words for “this” or “these” that you can use when you’re referring to something abstract or ambiguous or when the noun is unknown: esto and estos. Unlike the words above, which can occur before a noun, esto isn’t used with a noun and can stand on its own to mean “this” or “this one.” (This also means that estos follows *both* patterns!)
| Example | Translation | Reason for “este” or “esto” |
|---|---|---|
| Me gustan todos los perros, pero este es mi favorito. | I like all the dogs, but this one is my favorite. | este because we’re referring to a specific dog, which we know is masculine |
| Se canceló la fiesta, ¡y esto es malo! | The party got canceled, and this is bad! | esto because we’re talking about a general or abstract situation |
| ¿Qué es esto? | What is this? | esto because we’re referring to something unknown |
Spanish words for that and those
The Spanish words for that and those work the same way! These forms are the same as those for this and these, but without the “t.”
| Word for that | Example | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine singular | ese | Ese libro es mi favorito. | That book is my favorite. |
| Feminine singular | esa | Esa casa es nueva. | That house is new. |
| Word for those | Example | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine plural | esos | Esos libros son mis favoritos. | Those books are my favorites. |
| Feminine plural | esas | Esas casas son nuevas. | Those houses are new. |
How to say that one and those ones
Ese, esa, esos, and esas can all be used alone, just like este, esta, estos, and estas:
| Word for that (one) and those (ones) | Meaning | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine singular | ese | that one | Ese es mi juguete favorito. That (one) is my favorite toy. |
| Masculine plural | esos | those ones | Esos son mis colores favoritos. Those (ones) are my favorite colors. |
| Feminine singular | esa | that one | Esa es mi canción favorita. That (one) is my favorite song. |
| Feminine plural | esas | those ones | Esas son mis galletas favoritas. Those (ones) are my favorite cookies. |
Eso and esos
Just like esto and estos, you can also use eso and esos to stand in for abstract, ambiguous, or unknown nouns. And just like esto, you’ll never see eso before a noun—it’s always used alone.
| Example | Translation | Reason for “ese” or “eso” |
|---|---|---|
| Me gustan todos los perros, pero ese es mi favorito. | I like all the dogs, but that one is my favorite. | ese because we’re referring to a specific dog, which we know is masculine |
| Se canceló la fiesta, ¡y eso es malo! | The party got canceled, and that’s bad! | eso because we’re talking about a general or abstract situation |
| ¿Qué es eso? | What is that? | eso because we’re referring to something unknown |
The Spanish verb estar (to be)
There’s another word that sounds a lot like the this/that/these/those words… but thankfully, it’s entirely unrelated!
The verb estar is one of the Spanish verbs meaning “to be,” and it’s used for locations, states, and in some compound verb forms (like is running). Since Spanish sentences don’t need to say the subject, you’ll need to pay close attention to the endings of estar to know who did the action!
Here are its forms in the present tense:
| Present tense of estar | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| (yo) estoy | Estoy en la oficina. | I am in the office. |
| (tú) estás | Estás en la oficina. | You are in the office. |
| (él/ella/usted) está | Está en la oficina. | He/she is in the office. You are in the office. |
| (nosotros/nosotros) estamos | Estamos en la oficina. | We are in the office. |
| (vosotros/vosotros) estáis | Estáis en la oficina. | You all are in the office. |
| (ellos/ellas/ustedes) están | Están en la oficina. | They are in the office. You all are in the office. |
Spanish is known for its many verb tenses, but there’s one in particular worth mentioning here—because these forms look even more similar to the demonstrative adjectives (este, esta, etc.): the present subjunctive. This form will be familiar to intermediate and advanced learners!
The present subjunctive forms of estar often have the same spelling as the demonstrative adjectives—but those accent marks make a difference in meaning and pronunciation! For all the demonstrative adjectives, the first syllable is stressed (louder and a bit longer), while for the subjunctive of estar, the syllable with the accent mark is stressed:
| Present subjunctive of estar | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| (yo) esté | Ojalá esté en casa a las cinco. | Hopefully I’ll be home at 5pm. |
| (tú) estés | Ojalá estés en casa a las cinco. | Hopefully you’ll be home at 5pm. |
| (él/ella/usted) esté | Ojalá esté en casa a las cinco. | Hopefully he/she will be home at 5pm. Hopefully you’ll be home at 5pm. |
| (nosotros/nosotras) estemos | Ojalá estemos en casa a las cinco. | Hopefully we’ll be home at 5pm. |
| (vosotros/vosotras) estéis | Ojalá estéis en casa a las cinco. | Hopefully you all will be home at 5pm. |
| (ellos/ellas/ustedes) estén | Ojalá estén en casa a las cinco. | Hopefully they’ll be home at 5pm. Hopefully you all will be home at 5pm. |
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