Demonstrative Pronouns (Este, Esse, Aquele)

English speakers grow up with a two-way demonstrative system: this vs that. Anything close is this; anything not-close is that. Portuguese instead has a three-way system that maps space and discourse onto three distinct sets of forms: este (close to the speaker), esse (close to the listener or recently mentioned), and aquele (far from both, or remote in time). This triadic logic is one of the first features that marks Portuguese as grammatically distinct from English, and mastering it unlocks a precision that English simply can't express in a single word.

1. The three degrees

This single sentence would be difficult to render in English without circumlocution — this, that, that one over there — because English collapses the second and third positions into a single word.

2. Full paradigm

Each form agrees with the noun in gender and number, yielding four variants per degree.

These forms double as adjectives (before a noun: este livro) and pronouns (standing alone: este é o meu). There is no formal change between the two uses — the same word handles both functions, and the reader infers from syntax which role it plays.

3. The three zones in practice

3.1 Este: near me, in my space, now

Use este when the referent is physically close to you, in your personal sphere — on your desk, in your hand, in the room you're in. It also functions temporally for this very moment: este ano, esta semana, este momento.

3.2 Esse: near you, in your space, or what you just said

Use esse when the referent is close to your interlocutor — physically on their side, or something they are holding, wearing, or have just mentioned. In discourse, esse is the go-to word for what you just said / referred to (picking up a thread from the listener).

In conversation, esse carries a flavour of yours or yours-that-you-mentioned. English blends this into that without comment; Portuguese keeps it distinct.

3.3 Aquele: far from both, remote, distant in time

Use aquele when the referent is far from speaker and listener — literally at a distance, or distant in time (last year, old times, a past era). It's the pointer for things neither of you is immediately connected to.

4. Temporal use — a subtle point

The three demonstratives mark time just as they mark space, and the logic carries over neatly:

Learners often use esse where they mean aquele because English that covers both. Reserve aquele for things genuinely distant — physically or in time — and reserve esse for the recently-mentioned or the listener's-side referent.

5. Anaphoric reference — pointing to text

In written or spoken discourse, demonstratives point back to things already said or forward to things about to be said. Here the three-way system again divides labour:

• este refers forward, to what is about to be said, or to the most recent mention.
• esse refers back to something previously mentioned, often by the listener.
• aquele refers back to something further away in the text or memory, often in contrast to este.

This second construction is a formal literary device. Este picks up the most recently mentioned (the closer one in text), and aquele picks up the earlier mention (the farther one). English approximates with the latter / the former.

6. The pronoun vs adjective distinction

Every demonstrative works in both roles; you don't change the form. The difference is purely syntactic: with a noun following, it's an adjective; without, it's a pronoun.

In the pronoun role, the demonstrative agrees with the implicit referent: if the thing you're talking about is sapatos (masc. plural), you say esses; if it's camisola (fem. singular), you say esta.

7. Contrast with Spanish and French

For learners with another Romance language, here's how Portuguese demonstratives line up:

Spanish uses exactly the same three-way system; if you speak Spanish, you already know how to think about it. French has largely lost the distinction — ce is generic, and -ci / -là suffixes are needed to force contrast. English uses two forms (this/that) and expects context to fill in the rest.

8. Register and style

All three demonstratives work across all registers — formal, informal, written, spoken. However, aquele in emphatic or emotional contexts often carries extra weight: it can mean that famous, that unforgettable, that notorious.

Aquele with an emotional tone is similar to English that with stress (that guy!).

9. Combining demonstratives with possessives

A demonstrative and a possessive can co-occur, but only with the post-nominal de + pronoun form (not with seu/sua).

You cannot say este meu livro in modern EP (it was possible in older Portuguese but now sounds archaic). Use este livro meu if you really need both — though it's rare.

10. Contractions — preview

Demonstratives very frequently combine with the prepositions de, em, and a to form contractions: deste, neste, àquele, etc. These are covered in the dedicated page Demonstrative Contractions. For now, just know that when you see neste momento or daquela casa, you are looking at a fused form that must never be written as two words.

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Portuguese has three demonstratives, not two: este (mine), esse (yours), aquele (theirs).
• They agree with the noun in gender and number: este / esta / estes / estas, etc.
• They work as adjectives (before nouns) and pronouns (standing alone) with no formal change.
• Temporal use mirrors spatial use: este ano (this year), esse dia (that day you mentioned), aquele tempo (those distant times).
• In discourse, este looks forward or to the just-said; esse picks up what the listener said; aquele refers to something more distant.
• The invariable neuter forms — isto, isso, aquilo — have their own page and are used for abstract or unidentified referents.
• Contractions with de, em, a are mandatory (deste, neste, àquele) — see the contractions page.