Demonstratives locate a referent relative to a conversation: near the speaker, near the addressee, already mentioned, or far from both. Contemporary Central Catalan usually organizes this space as a practical two-way contrast, while much Valencian maintains a productive three-way contrast. The forms overlap, but their everyday workload differs.
English this/that encourages a two-way interpretation. To understand Valencian eixe or more formal aqueix, add a third anchor: that by you / that in your discourse, between “this by me” and “that over there.”
If agreement itself is new, begin with the basic demonstrative paradigm; the contrasts below explain how regions divide deictic space differently.
The two systems at a glance
| Deictic zone | Central everyday orientation | Valencian simple forms | Valencian reinforced/shared forms | Typical place adverb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| near speaker / immediate discourse | aquest, aquesta | este, esta | aquest, aquesta | Central aquí; Valencian ací |
| near addressee / second degree | often aquest, sometimes marked aqueix | eixe, eixa | aqueix, aqueixa | Valencian ahí (codified by the AVL; IEC guidance is more restrictive) |
| distant from both | aquell, aquella | aquell, aquella | aquell, aquella | allí or allà |
The Valencian simple forms este/eixe are not merely casual substitutes. They are codified and can appear in formal Valencian. The reinforced aquest/aqueix series is also available, with choices shaped by style, locality, and institution.
Este informe resumix les dades d'eixe expedient i d'aquell arxiu.
This report summarizes the data from that file by you and that archive over there. (formal; regional: Valencian, three degrees)
Full agreeing paradigms
Demonstratives used with or instead of a noun agree in gender and number. Learn rows rather than isolated masculine singulars.
| Series | Masculine singular | Feminine singular | Masculine plural | Feminine plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| first degree, simple (Valencian) | este | esta | estos | estes |
| first degree, reinforced/shared | aquest | aquesta | aquests (Valencian also aquestos) | aquestes |
| second degree, simple (Valencian) | eixe | eixa | eixos | eixes |
| second degree, reinforced | aqueix | aqueixa | aqueixos | aqueixes |
| third degree | aquell | aquella | aquells | aquelles |
Estes claus són meues; eixes són teues; aquelles, de la conserge.
These keys are mine; those by you are yours; those over there belong to the caretaker. (regional: Valencian)
In Central conversation, aqueix is understood but much less frequent. It can sound written, literary, contrastive, or deliberately addressee-oriented depending on context. Central speakers commonly let aquest cover both first and second degree and reserve aquell for distance.
Aquestes claus d'aquí són meves; aquelles d'allà són de la conserge.
These keys here are mine; those over there belong to the caretaker. (Central-oriented two-way system)
A matched request across varieties
Imagine that the folder is beside the listener rather than the speaker:
Em passes aquesta carpeta que tens aquí al costat?
Could you pass me that folder you have there beside you? (Central-oriented: aquest/aquí can extend to the addressee's immediate space)
Em passes eixa carpeta que tens ahí al costat?
Could you pass me that folder you have there beside you? (regional: Valencian; second-degree eixa/ahí)
The sentences perform the same request. The Valencian version grammatically maintains the middle zone; the Central version lets context assign aquesta and aquí to the jointly attended space.
Aquí and ací
Aquí is the default “here” in Central Catalan and is understood throughout the language area. Ací is especially characteristic and fully standard in Valencian, and it also has use beyond Valencian. In a three-way Valencian orientation, ací locates the speaker's zone and ahí the addressee's or second-degree zone. The AVL codifies ahí as that second-degree form, including in its Valencian standard; the IEC's supraregional oral proposal admits it only in informal Valencian. Follow the institution and model relevant to the text rather than declaring one community's entire system incorrect.
Deixa la caixa ací i posa eixa carpeta ahí, al teu costat.
Leave the box here and put that folder there, beside you. (regional: Valencian; speaker zone ací, addressee zone ahí)
The presence of ahí in Valencian should not be dismissed simply because Spanish has the same-looking form. Shared Romance history and long contact both matter in the region; normative status and actual distribution must be checked independently of resemblance.
Allí and allà
Both allí and allà point away from the speaker. A useful tendency is that allí identifies a more delimited place, while allà readily indicates a broader direction or less bounded distant area. Actual choice is not a rigid geometry lesson, and regional preferences vary.
Els documents són allí, al segon prestatge; les capses velles són allà al fons.
The documents are there, on the second shelf; the old boxes are over there at the back.
In narration, place adverbs can be anaphoric rather than physically visible. Allí may mean “in that specific place just mentioned,” and demonstratives can similarly organize a text: aquest argument often refers to the current argument, while aquell període can reopen a more distant discourse topic.
En aquell període encara no existia el servei; aquesta dada explica el retard.
In that period the service did not yet exist; this fact explains the delay. (formal discourse deixis)
Neutral demonstratives and weak pronouns
When no noun supplies gender and number, Catalan uses neutral demonstratives. Central everyday Catalan principally contrasts això and allò. Valencian can maintain açò (first degree), això (second degree), and allò (third degree), though distribution varies.
Açò és el que propose jo; això que dius tu ho podem negociar; allò ja no és viable.
This is what I propose; that point you make can be negotiated; that other thing is no longer viable. (regional: Valencian; three-way neutral series)
Neutral demonstratives do not directly become a gendered object pronoun. Once the idea is established, the usual weak pronoun is ho: Això, no ho entenc. The demonstrative sets up the referent; ho resumes it.
Això no ho podem decidir avui.
We can't decide that today. Això is the detached topic; ho is the neutral weak object pronoun.
Pronunciation and morphology
Regional pronunciation affects the surface form without changing the paradigm's grammatical role. In much Central speech, the initial segment of aquest can be reduced strongly; Valencian simple este/eixe have their own vowel and palatal-fricative realizations. Learn from audio rather than spelling an imagined accent.
Aquest paquet és per a tu, però aquell d'allà és per a mi.
This package is for you, but that one over there is for me. (Central-oriented audio cue: aquest versus aquell)
Este paquet és per a tu, però eixe d'ahí és per a mi.
This package is for you, but that one there is for me. (regional Valencian audio cue: first-degree este versus second-degree eixe/ahí; AVL-standard)
Demonstratives are determiners in aquesta casa and independent pronouns in aquesta és millor. English uses “this one,” but Catalan normally needs no equivalent of one.
Eixa és més pràctica que aquella.
That one by you is more practical than that one over there. (regional: Valencian; demonstratives used independently)
Production, register, and mixing
For a Central productive baseline, stabilize aquest/aquell and aquí/allà, while recognizing aqueix, ací, ahí, and Valencian simple forms. For a Valencian baseline, learn all three rows and the corresponding adverbs from one local model. Using este does not oblige every Valencian speaker to use ahí in every context, but random alternation between deictic systems makes spatial contrasts harder to interpret.
A political label does not determine the paradigm by itself. Speakers across Valencian territory differ, reinforced forms are shared more broadly, and mobility produces flexible repertoires. Describe the forms a speaker actually uses.
Common Mistakes
❌ Este informe és massa col·loquial per a una administració valenciana.
Incorrect — este is a codified Valencian demonstrative and can occur in formal public prose.
✅ Este informe detalla les mesures adoptades.
This report details the measures adopted. (formal; regional: Valencian)
❌ Aqueix és simplement una variant antiga d'aquell.
Incorrect — aqueix is the second-degree form, historically and still productively in three-way systems.
✅ Aqueix document que tens tu és el que necessite.
That document you have is the one I need. (regional/formal Valencian reinforced form)
❌ Aquí, ací i ahí són sempre intercanviables.
Incorrect — in a Valencian three-way system, ací and ahí can contrast speaker and addressee zones.
✅ Queda't ací; jo deixaré la bossa ahí, al teu costat.
Stay here; I'll leave the bag there beside you. (regional: Valencian)
❌ Això no el puc acceptar.
Incorrect — a neutral demonstrative is normally resumed by the neutral weak pronoun ho.
✅ Això no ho puc acceptar.
I can't accept that.
Key Takeaways
- Central everyday Catalan generally uses a two-way aquest/aquell contrast; much Valencian productively uses three degrees.
- Valencian simple este/eixe and reinforced aquest/aqueix are codified alternatives, not correctness levels.
- Ací/ahí can distinguish speaker and addressee zones in Valencian; the AVL codifies ahí, while IEC guidance restricts it to informal Valencian. Aquí is the Central default for “here.”
- Allí often points to a delimited distant place, while allà readily has broader directional force, but usage overlaps.
- Neutral açò/això/allò and weak-pronoun ho have distinct grammatical jobs.
- Learn one coherent system for production and the corresponding forms of other regions for recognition.
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Demonstratives: aquest, aquesta, aquests, aquestesA1 — Use proximal demonstratives with correct gender, number, position, and Central Catalan distance contrasts.
- Aquí, Ací, Allí, and AllàA1 — Choose Catalan demonstrative place adverbs by distance, precision, region, and discourse viewpoint.
- ValencianB1 — Understand the coherent Valencian standard in its vowels, demonstratives, possessives, verbs, weak pronouns, and register choices.
- One Language, Pluricentric StandardsA2 — Understand how IEC and AVL codification, regional standard forms, register, and mutual intelligibility fit within one pluricentric Catalan language.
- The Catalan Dialect MapA2 — Orient yourself among Eastern and Western Catalan, their major regional varieties, shared grammar, codified standards, and continuous transition zones.
- Redundant and Lexicalized Weak PronounsC1 — Distinguish meaningful resumption and lexicalized hi or en from nonstandard duplication of a weak pronoun.