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It’s a known fact of life that many students usually hesitate when they need to translate the words THIS and THAT into Spanish, as well as THESE AND THOSE.
They know the rules, they have seen this a million times, but when the time comes to use them, all the rules get blurred and they just say the first one that crosses their minds, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.
Today I will share with you a little tip that will help you tell them apart easily and effortlessly. Mind you, this is NOT a lesson on the uses of THIS , THAT, THESE and THOSE in Spanish. This is a very useful tip that will get you on target each and every time. But if you need an actual lesson, explaning how to use esto, este, esta, eso, ese, esa, estos, estas and esas, please visit our grammar section, lessons 44-49.
How can we remember how to translate THIS, THAT, THESE and THOSE easily in Spanish?
Just remember this chant: THIS and THESE have Ts, THAT and THOSE don’t.
That’s it! Let’s see this in action:
I like this… Me gusta esTo. (THIS and THESE have Ts, so in this case I need to say “esTo”)
I like this book… Me gusta esTe libro (THIS and THESE have Ts, so we use esTe)
I like this house… Me gusta esTa casa. (THIS and THESE have Ts, so we say “esTa”)
And as we said… THAT and THOSE don’t!
I like that… Me gusta eso. (No T here because only THIS and THESE have Ts)
I like that book… Me gusta ese libro. (THAT and THOSE do not add T)
I like that house… Me gusta esa casa. (We can’t add T because only THIS and THESE have Ts)
Y eso es todo por hoy. ¡Nos vemos pronto!
