How to Use Demonstrative Adjectives in Spanish

There are several different types of adjectives used in the Spanish language. They help describe location, possession, and characteristics of nouns. One of the most commonly used types are Spanish demonstrative adjectives. These are a great tool to have in your belt whether you’re a new speaker or a pro, as they can help you simplify your conversation without saying less. In this article, we’ll help you strengthen your understanding of both demonstrative adjectives and demonstrative pronouns in Spanish so you can continue on your journey to fluency.

What Are Demonstrative Adjectives in Spanish?

Demonstrative adjectives in Spanish are adjectives that help a speaker identify a specific noun. They are used to demonstrate a particular person or thing and provide clarification within a conversation. In English, these include words like this, that, these, and those. However, in Spanish, the demonstrative adjectives must reflect the noun they’re describing. Due to the differences in nouns, this means there are many possible conjugations of demonstrative adjectives in Spanish. For example, if the noun being described is singular and masculine, the demonstrative adjective needs to be singular and masculine. If the noun is plural and feminine, the demonstrative adjective needs to be as well. Practical usages of Spanish demonstrative adjectives include:

• Dame esa naranja — “Give me that orange”
• A Juan le encantan esos libros — “Juan loves those books”
• Esa estatua es Romana — “That statue is Roman”

Understanding how to use demonstrative adjectives in Spanish is extremely helpful for basic communication. This is especially true if you’re a new learner and are struggling to remember the specific word of an item during conversation. There are several different applications for using Spanish demonstrative adjectives, which we’ll discuss in more detail below.

How to Use Demonstrative Adjectives in Spanish

Using demonstrative adjectives in Spanish is similar to English, whereas the adjective is placed before the noun in order to identify it in conversation. However, like many words in Spanish, demonstrative adjectives need to be changed to reflect gender and the number of items or people being described. Therefore, demonstrative adjectives in Spanish can be either masculine or feminine, and singular or plural. There is also an opportunity for you to use a neutral Spanish demonstrative adjective, but only when you don’t need to identify either a gender in certain circumstances.

Different Types of Spanish Demonstrative Adjectives

While there are only two types in English, there are three different types of demonstrative adjectives in Spanish. This includes both this and that and another option that means that one over there.. While this is used less frequently, it’s still important when a speaker wants to add emphasis that the noun in question is, indeed, quite far away. Consider the chart for a better visual understanding of all of the forms of demonstrative adjectives in Spanish.

Demonstrative Adjectives vs. Demonstrative Pronouns

A demonstrative adjective in Spanish is used to describe a noun while a demonstrative pronoun is used to replace the use of a noun. To help, think of it this way. Spanish demonstrative adjectives help answer the question of “which” noun the speaker is referring to. It’s used before the noun in a sentence. The pronoun will replace the noun, so it’s omitted from the sentence. However, demonstrative pronouns and adjectives in Spanish both use the same words as described in the table above. To help solidify these differences, download Tandem to perfect your usage of demonstrative adjectives and pronouns with a native Spanish speaker today.

An example of a Spanish demonstrative adjective in a sentence is:

• Esa casa es pequeña — “That house is small”

An example of a Spanish demonstrative pronoun in a sentence is:

• This es mi padre — “This is my father”

Can Numbers Be Demonstrative Adjectives?

Spanish demonstrative adjectives cannot be numbers, per se. Instead, they’re used to describe either a singular or plural noun. For example:

• Cuánto cuestan estos libros? — “How much do these books cost?”
• Cuánto cuesta este libro? — “How much does this book cost?”
• Quero comprar tres de esos libros — “I want to buy three of those books”

One of the forms is talking about books in plural, one refers to a singular item, and the final example refers to a specific number of items. However, numbers themselves will never be replaced by demonstrative adjectives in Spanish.

It should also be known that when you are listing items in a series, each item needs its own demonstrative adjective. For example:

• Esos perros y esos gatos — “Those dogs and cats”

If you only used esos once, it would indicate the two items were somehow meshed into one.

Sample Sentences Using Demonstrative Adjectives

To further solidify your understanding of Spanish demonstrative pronouns and adjectives, here are a few more sample sentences.

• Este artículo es fantástico! — “This article is fantastic!”
• Dame uno de estos, por favor — “Give me one of these please”
• Eso me suena — “That sounds familiar to me”
• Eso me suena — “That sounds familiar to me”
• Esta persona no es mi amigo — “This person is not my friend”
• Me gustan aquellos perros — “I like those dogs over there”
• No quiero esa casa. Quiero aquella casa — “I don’t want that house. I want that house farther back”

Practicing Demonstrative Adjectives in Spanish

The best way to practice using demonstrative adjectives and pronouns in Spanish is to differentiate them based on distance and make sure you known the gender and number of the item you’re describing. You can use este and all of the associated forms when referring to something that’s very close, ese when and its associated forms when referring to something nearby, and aquel when referring to something that’s very far away. Spend some time practicing these each day, and you’ll be a pro in no time.

Demonstrative Adjectives in Spanish Worksheet

Since using all of the various conjugations of demonstrative pronouns and adjectives in Spanish can get a little confusing, practice with the following worksheet.

• Worksheet

The best way to master the use of demonstrative pronouns and adjectives in Spanish is to practice. However, it’s going to take more than worksheets and copying down sentences. That’s why Tandem has banded together with millions of like-minded individuals around the world. Using our unique language learning experience, you’ll match with Spanish speakers to help you practice using demonstrative adjectives in a natural way.

At Tandem, our goal is to help our users foster a deeper understanding of language while improving fluency and building long-lasting friendships. All you need to do is sign up, match with a native speaker of your target language, and start communicating. This gives you plenty of options to practice things like possessive adjectives, demonstrative adjectives, and more.

Tandem is a community where languages can be exchanged, taught, and understood. To join our community and work on your fluency, sign up for Tandem today.