Answer:
Imagine that you're in a store browsing through merchandise and talking to a salesperson behind the counter. As you discuss the various products, you will likely use words like, "this," "that," "these," and "those."
I'd like to try on this ring.
How much does that book cost?
What are these toys made out of?
I want to buy three of those light bulbs.
The underlined words above are known as demonstrative adjectives. Which adjective you use depends on two things: 1) how many objects there are, and 2) how close they are to you. Using this information we can build a grid:
singular:
plural:
near:
this
these
far:
that
those
Este, Estos, Ese, Esos
"Este es el camino."
Spanish is similar, albeit with one major difference that we'll get to later.
singular:
plural:
near:
este
estos
far:
ese
esos
Some examples:
Quisiera probarme este anillo.
I'd like to try on this ring.
¿Cuánto cuesta ese libro?
How much does that book cost?
¿De qué son estos juguetes?
What are these toys made out of?
Quiero comprar tres de esos bombillos.
I want to buy three of those light bulbs.
Please note that even though they are adjectives, we place este, ese, estos, and esos in front of the nouns they modify instead behind them like we normally do.
Also note that the demonstrative adjectives for singular items are este and ese, not esto and eso. That may seem inconsistent with what you already know about adjectives, but that's just the way it is.
There is a little rhyme that can help you keep your demonstrative adjectives straight: "This" and "these" have t's, "that" and "those" don't.
Explanation:
