Comparative Grammar 2.4. Demonstrative Adjectives and Pronouns in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French

In this comparative grammar lesson of Romance languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, & French, we study demonstrative adjectives and pronouns. Demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these, those) come before a noun, e.g., “I want this book,” while possessive pronouns (same as demonstrative adjectives: this, that, these, those) are used to replace a noun and its possessive adjective, e.g., “I want this.”

Table of Contents

• Demonstrative Pronouns & Adjectives in Spanish
• Demonstrative Pronouns & Adjectives in Portuguese
• Demonstrative Pronouns & Adjectives in Italian
• Demonstrative Pronouns & Adjectives in French
• Level II – Beginner

Demonstrative pronouns and adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun being described.

Demonstrative Pronouns & Adjectives in Spanish

The following are the demonstrative adjectives in Spanish:

In general, “este,” “esta,” “estos,” and “estas” are used to refer to nouns close to the speaker and listener. On the other hand, “ese,” “esa,” “esos,” and “esas” are used to refer to nouns close to the listener but far away from the speaker, whereas “aquel,” “aquella,” “aquellos,” and “aquellas” are used to refer to nouns far away from both the speaker and the listener.

Demonstrative pronouns are the same as demonstrative adjectives in addition to the set of neuter demonstrative pronouns “esto,” “eso,” and “aquello,” which mean “this,” “that,” and “that over there,” respectively. These are used to refer to a whole sentence or concept, e.g., “Esto no es aceptable” (This is not acceptable), or to point at something without mentioning it, e.g., “¿Qué es eso?” (What is that?). The following are the demonstrative pronouns in Spanish:

Demonstrative Pronouns & Adjectives in Portuguese

Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns in Portuguese are similar to those in Spanish.

The following are the demonstrative adjectives in Portuguese:

In general, “este,” “esta,” “estes,” and “estas” are used to refer to nouns close to the speaker and listener. On the other hand, “esse,” “essa,” “esses,” and “essas” are used to refer to nouns close to the listener but far away from the speaker, whereas “aquele,” “aquela,” “aqueles,” and “aquelas” are used to refer to nouns far away from both the speaker and the listener.

Demonstrative pronouns are the same as demonstrative adjectives in addition to the set of invariable neuter demonstrative pronouns “isto,” “isso,” and “aquilo,” which mean “this,” “that,” and “that over there,” respectively. The neuter demonstrative pronouns have no gender or plural forms. These are used to refer to a whole sentence or concept, e.g., “Isto não é aceitável” (This is not acceptable), or to point at something without mentioning it, e.g., “O que é isso?” (What is that?). The following are the demonstrative pronouns in Portuguese:

Demonstrative Pronouns & Adjectives in Italian

Demonstrative pronouns and adjectives in Italian are more challenging.

Let us start with the demonstrative pronouns:

In general, “questo,” “questa,” “questi,” and “queste” are used to refer to nouns close to the speaker. On the other hand, “quello,” “quella,” “quelli,” and “quelle” are used to refer to nouns far away from the speaker.

Let us take some examples:

The demonstrative pronouns “questo” and “quello” can also be used to refer to a whole sentence or concept, e.g., “Questo non è accettabile” (This is not acceptable), or to point at something without mentioning it, e.g., “Deve essere quello” (It has to be that).

Let us now examine the demonstrative adjectives.

In the case of the demonstrative adjectives of nearness, i.e., “this” and “these,” the demonstrative adjectives are identical to the demonstrative pronouns, that is, “questo,” “questa,” “questi,” and “queste.” For example, “questo ragazzo” (this boy), “questa macchina” (this car).

Notice that it is optional to use the form “quest’” instead of “questo” or “questa” before a noun that begins with a vowel, e.g., “quest’amica” (this friend) is short for “questa amica.”

In the case of the demonstrative adjectives of farness, i.e., “that” and “those,” recall from Level I, Lesson 7 that “quello” is one of two common adjectives that change form like the definite articles, depending on the number and gender of the following noun and whether the noun begins with a vowel or certain consonants.

To summarize, the following are the demonstrative adjectives in Italian:

^(V) before a noun (or preceding adjective) that begins with a vowel

^(Z) before a noun (or preceding adjective) that begins with “z,” “gn,” “ps,” or “s” + consonant

Let us take some examples:

Demonstrative Pronouns & Adjectives in French

In French, the demonstratives pronouns and adjectives are slightly different.

Let us start with the demonstrative adjectives.

In French, the demonstrative adjectives “ce,” “cet,” and “cette” can mean both “this” and “that.” The demonstrative adjective “cet” is used before a singular masculine noun that starts with a vowel or mute “h,” e.g., “cet arbre” (this/that tree), “cet homme” (this/that man), etc., whereas “ce” is used before any other singular masculine noun, e.g., “ce garcon” (this/that boy). The demonstrative adjective “cette” is used before a singular feminine noun.

Similarly, “ces” can mean both “these” and “those.” There is no real distinction of nearness and farness in the simple forms of the demonstrative adjectives.

To make such a distinction, we can add “-ci” or “-là” after the noun, for example:

Let us now examine the demonstrative pronouns:

In general, “celui,” “celle,” “ceux,” and “celles” do not appear on their own. They can appear with “-ci” or “-là” attached to the end of the demonstrative pronoun, or followed by “que,” “qui,” “de,” or a prepositional phrase. In the latter case, the demonstrative pronoun is often translated as “the one(s).” Let us look at some examples:

When referring to a statement, an indefinite thing, or a previously mentioned idea, we use one of the following pronouns:

The pronouns “ce” and “ça” are often used in familiar situations in daily spoken language. The pronoun “ce” (or “c’” before a vowel or a mute “h”) is used before the verb “être” (to be), whereas “ça” is used with other verbs.

On the other hand, the pronouns “ceci” (this) and “cela” (that) are more formal and are often encountered in written French.

Here are some examples:

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