Questions & Answers about Això és aigua.
Això is a neuter demonstrative pronoun. It means something like this / this thing / that when you are referring to something without naming a noun.
So in Això és aigua, you are basically saying This is water.
By contrast, aquest is masculine singular and normally goes with a noun, for example:
- aquest llibre = this book
You would not normally use aquest by itself here unless you were referring to a specific masculine noun already understood from context.
It often corresponds to this, but in practice it can sometimes cover both this and that, depending on context.
A useful beginner rule is:
- això = this / this thing
- allò = that / that thing over there
Catalan does not always match English distance distinctions exactly, so the best translation depends on the situation.
És is the 3rd person singular present of ser (to be).
The subject is això, which is singular, so the verb must also be singular:
- això és = this is
This sentence is identifying what something is, so ser is the correct verb.
Catalan usually uses ser for identity, classification, and definition.
In Això és aigua, you are saying what something is made of or what it is in essence, so ser is used.
Compare the idea:
- Això és aigua = This is water
- estar would not sound right here for simple identification
So this is a classic ser sentence.
Because aigua is being used as a mass noun here, like water in English.
In identification sentences, Catalan often has no article before a material or substance:
- Això és aigua = This is water
- Això és vi = This is wine
- Això és pa = This is bread
Using an article would usually change the meaning or sound unnatural in this context.
Usually, no.
Aigua normally behaves like an uncountable noun, so in a basic sentence like this you say:
- Això és aigua
You might see una aigua only in special cases, such as talking about:
- a type of water
- a bottled water
- a serving of water
- a poetic or figurative use
But for the plain meaning This is water, no article is the normal choice.
Aigua is feminine.
So you would say:
- l’aigua
- aquesta aigua
- aigua freda
Even though this sentence does not show gender directly, it is useful to know that aigua takes feminine agreement.
A simple learner-friendly approximation is:
- això ≈ eye-SHAW
- és ≈ ess
- aigua ≈ EYE-gwuh
A few key pronunciation points:
- x in això sounds like English sh
- ò is an open o sound
- gu in aigua sounds like gw
So the whole sentence is roughly:
- eye-SHAW ess EYE-gwuh
Exact pronunciation varies by dialect, but this is a good starting point.
They help show stress and sometimes vowel quality.
- això has the stress on the last syllable: ai-XÒ
- és has an accent to distinguish it from es, which is a different word
In això, the ò also tells you it is an open o.
So the accents are not optional decoration; they are part of the correct spelling and help with pronunciation and meaning.
The normal order is:
- Això és aigua
That is the most natural way to say This is water.
If you changed the order, the sentence would usually sound marked, unnatural, or only possible in a very special context. For beginners, it is best to keep the standard order:
- subject + verb + complement
Yes, but only if the context is already very clear.
- És aigua = It is water / It’s water
Catalan often drops subjects when they are understood, but in a sentence where you are explicitly pointing something out, Això és aigua is the clearer and more complete form.
Yes. In some varieties, especially Valencian, you may also see:
- Açò és aigua
That is a regional equivalent of Això és aigua.
So if you come across açò, do not worry: it is not a different grammar pattern, just a different form used in some dialects.