Això és pa.

this

Breakdown of Això és pa.

• ser: to be
• el pa: the bread

Questions & Answers about Això és pa.

Why is això used here instead of aquest?

Això is a neuter demonstrative, meaning this thing / this when you are not naming a specific noun.

• això = this / this thing
• aquest = this one for a masculine singular noun
• aquesta = this one for a feminine singular noun

So in Això és pa, the speaker is pointing to something and identifying what it is: This is bread.

You would use aquest only if it referred to a masculine noun already understood, for example:

• Aquest és bo. = This one is good.

What does és mean, and what verb is it from?

És means is.

It comes from the verb ser, which is one of the main verbs for to be in Catalan.

Here is the present tense:

• jo sóc = I am
• tu ets = you are
• ell/ella és = he/she is
• nosaltres som = we are
• vosaltres sou = you are
• ells/elles són = they are

So Això és pa literally follows the same pattern as English:

• This is bread

Why is ser used here and not estar?