Spanish Demonstrative Adjectives

Spanish has three words where English only has two. In English, we say "this" or "that" depending upon whether the object is close to us or not. In Spanish, we also say "this" and "that," but there is another, separate word used to mean "that one over there." This form is used when the object is more than just a short distance away, for example, on the other side of the room. Here are the three forms for "this" "that" and "that one over there."

Remember that in Spanish, adjectives have four forms: masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular, feminine plural. For example the adjective "short" has four forms in Spanish: bajo, bajos, baja, bajas.

el chico bajo
los chicos bajos

la chica baja
las chicas bajas

The demonstrative adjectives also have four forms:

este libro (this book)
estos libros (these books)
esta pluma (this pen)
estas plumas (these pens)

ese libro (that book)
esos libros (those books)
esa pluma (that pen)
esas plumas (those pens)

aquel libro (that book over there)
aquellos libros (those books over there)
aquella pluma (that pen over there)
aquellas plumas (those pens over there)

este (this one - masculine)
estos (these ones - masculine)
esta (this one - feminine)
estas (these ones - feminine)

ese (that one - masculine)
esos (those ones - masculine)
esa (that one - feminine)
esas (those ones - feminine)

aquel (that one over there - masc.)
aquellos (those ones over there - masc.)
aquella (that one over there - fem.)
aquellas (those ones over there - fem.)