CEFR A1
What you will learn
- Choose a demonstrative after establishing the speaker and the stated distance.
- Keep noun agreement separate from the location of its owner.
- Ask for missing spatial information instead of inventing a reference.
Before you start
- Know the regular present, basic questions and noun agreement. Use the linked lessons for the forms needed here.
- Use only simple present statements and spatial or personal facts on this page.
The idea
A demonstrative points from a speaker’s position. The owner of an object and the person describing it need not be the same. If a bag belongs to you but is beside me, its owner does not automatically select ese. First establish who is speaking and where the object is. Spanish offers three sets: este, ese and aquel, with gender and number forms. Distance is interpreted in context, not measured by a fixed number of metres. For the controlled scenes on this page, use este beside the speaker, ese beside the listener and aquel far from both; those conventions are stated so the target is clear.
When a noun is named, the demonstrative agrees with that noun: esta maleta, esos mapas. It does not agree with its owner. Do not add el or la before this prenominal demonstrative.
Esto, eso and aquello are neutral singular forms for something not yet named or for a situation. They do not stand directly before a noun. Here we use them only for unidentified objects, not the later discourse or time uses of demonstratives.
Reference: form and meaning
| Relation in these controlled scenes | Masculine singular / plural | Feminine singular / plural | Unnamed object |
|---|---|---|---|
| beside the speaker | este / estos | esta / estas | esto |
| beside the listener | ese / esos | esa / esas | eso |
| far from both | aquel / aquellos | aquella / aquellas | aquello |
Real speakers can organise distance differently. Use the explicit convention for these tasks; an owner is not a spatial coordinate.
How it sounds
- Esta maleta es grande. ¿Qué es eso?Rosa is the viewpoint, so the suitcase uses the near set. Maleta is feminine singular; the unnamed object beside Mateo uses a neutral form. The two choices use different information: agreement and whether an object has been named.
Transfer 1A different case
P1. You speak beside two folders, las carpetas. P2. Their owner, Ana, is your listener on the other side of the room. P3. A draft says «Esos carpetas son de Ana». Repair the demonstrative and its agreement while keeping the owner and both folders.
P1. Luis speaks beside three envelopes, los sobres. P2. They belong to Vera, his listener far away. P3. Repair «Esas sobres son de Vera» while retaining ownership and number.
Answer available without interaction
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: Estas carpetas son de Ana.
Model answer: Estas carpetas son de Ana.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Names both folders with feminine plural agreement.
- Uses the speaker’s location and preserves Ana’s ownership.
The speaker is beside the folders, so the near set applies. Carpetas requires feminine plural; ownership does not move the objects.
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: Estos sobres son de Vera.
Model answer: Estos sobres son de Vera.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Keeps the three envelopes and Vera’s ownership.
- Uses Luis as the spatial viewpoint and masculine plural.
Luis is beside the envelopes; sobres is masculine plural.
Transfer 2A different case
P1. A note says «el libro de Eva». P2. Eva is beside you, but the book’s location is not given. P3. Someone proposes «este libro» because Eva is near. Write one Spanish question that asks for the missing spatial fact, and state in English whether the proposed choice is established.
P1. A box belongs to Omar. P2. Omar is at the door, but nobody locates the box. P3. Write a Spanish question for the missing fact and explain in English why «aquella caja» is not established.
Answer available without interaction
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: ¿Dónde está el libro? The choice is not established.
Model answer: ¿Dónde está el libro? The choice is not established.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Asks about the book’s location.
- Treats the proposed distance as unestablished, without asserting a different distance.
Being near Eva does not locate Eva’s book. Ask where the book is; none of the distance sets follows from ownership alone.
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: ¿Dónde está la caja? The box’s location is missing.
Model answer: ¿Dónde está la caja? The box’s location is missing.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Asks where the box is.
- Does not turn missing distance into known distance.
The owner’s position does not establish the box’s distance.
Transfer 3A different case
P1. Scene A: two cups, las tazas, are beside your listener. P2. Scene B: you are now holding both cups; the listener has not moved. P3. Describe each scene in one Spanish sentence with the noun and a demonstrative, adding «están aquí» or «están ahí» as fits that scene.
P1. A notebook, el cuaderno, is far from both people in scene A. P2. In scene B it is beside the listener, while the speaker remains in place. P3. Describe each scene in one Spanish sentence with the noun and a demonstrative, adding «está allí» or «está ahí» as fits that scene.
Answer available without interaction
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: A: Esas tazas están ahí. B: Estas tazas están aquí.
Model answer: A: Esas tazas están ahí. B: Estas tazas están aquí.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Matches each scene with its own distance set and adverb.
- Keeps the two cups and feminine plural in both sentences.
Scene A places the cups beside the listener, so the middle set and ahí fit; scene B places them beside the speaker, so the near set and aquí fit. Feminine plural stays constant.
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: Aquel cuaderno está allí. Ese cuaderno está ahí.
Model answer: Aquel cuaderno está allí. Ese cuaderno está ahí.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Distinguishes both scene distances.
- Keeps the notebook singular and masculine.
The scene changes far-from-both to beside-listener; masculine singular stays constant.
What your own language pushes you to say
Wrong esto cuaderno
Right este cuaderno
Cuaderno is a named masculine singular noun, so use este; esto cannot modify it.
Transfer 4: combine the distinctions
P1. Ada and Bruno are on opposite sides of a room. P2. Two keys, las llaves, are beside Bruno. An unidentified object is on a shelf far from both of them. P3. Ada asks whether the keys are new and what the far object is. Bruno, still beside the keys, answers yes and asks Ada the same question about the far object. Write the four Spanish utterances; each sentence about the keys names them with a demonstrative.
Answer available without interaction
- Switches from esas to estas when the speaker changes, with feminine plural agreement.
- Uses the neutral far form (aquello) for the unidentified object in both questions.
- Does not move any object between the two speakers.
Answer: Ada: ¿Esas llaves son nuevas? ¿Qué es aquello? Bruno: Sí, estas llaves son nuevas. ¿Qué es aquello?
The keys are beside Bruno: Ada uses the middle set and Bruno the near set. The unidentified object is far from both, so both speakers use the neutral far form; changing the speaker does not change it.
Curriculum alignment and sources
- PCIC §4, A1 column: spatial demonstratives and neutral forms. The split into A1.2 and the sequence of tasks are editorial. · Plan Curricular del Instituto Cervantes: Gramática, inventario A1-A2
Continue along this corridor
Practise this: “Hay” or “está”Everything agrees: nouns, articles and adjectivesOne English “to be”, three Spanish choices