| Demonstratives | |
| A particular characteristic of the Spanish language is its peculiar system of demonstrative pronouns and adjectives. In order to point out a noun, and distinguish it from others of the same class, languages use a system based on adjectives and pronouns that change mainly considering the distance between the noun and the person that refers to it. The noun referred to may be located near or far (in time or space) to the speaker and, therefore, most languages use two different forms, according to the distance at issue, that would also change to show the number and sometimes the gender of the noun they stand for. The English language uses this to point at something close to the speaker and that when it is farther away, and their variations these and those for the plural. Something similar happens in Spanish, but its system of demonstratives is in addition complicated by the fact that it is based on three different primary forms instead of only two, as in English. In Spanish there is a third form to indicate a distance that is relatively not far but also not too close to the speaker. A chart representing the Spanish System of Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives could be drawn as fallows: |
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| Another peculiarity of the Spanish system of demonstratives is the existence of a neutral form, esto (neither masculine nor feminine), which is used only to refer to indefinite nouns. Compare: |
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| It’s important to remember that this neutral form is never used to refer to a noun actualised by a definite article or any other of the determiners i.e: possessives, demonstratives, etc. It’s used only with a noun with the indefinite article. | |
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