Això és una casa.

this

Breakdown of Això és una casa.

• ser: to be
• un: a
• la casa: the house

Questions & Answers about Això és una casa.

What does això mean, and why isn’t it aquesta?

Això means this in a general, neutral sense: this thing / this.

It is different from aquesta, which agrees with a feminine noun:

• aquesta casa = this house

In Això és una casa, això stands alone as a pronoun, like this in English:

• This is a house.

So:

• això = this (thing / this matter)
• aquesta casa = this house

How do you pronounce això?

A common pronunciation guide is roughly:

• això ≈ eye-SHO

More precisely:

• ai sounds like eye
• x in this word sounds like sh
• the final ò is a stressed open o

So the stress falls on the last syllable: ai-XÒ.

Why is there an accent mark in és?

The accent mark in és helps distinguish it from es, which is a different word.

• és = is (from the verb ser, to be)
• es = a reflexive or object pronoun in many contexts

So in this sentence, és must have the accent because it means is.