Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Ese director es muy famoso en nuestra ciudad. - That director is very famous in our city.

este / esta / estos / estas → this / these, close to the speaker
ese / esa / esos / esas → that / those, closer to the listener or at a medium distance
aquel / aquella / aquellos / aquellas → that / those (over there), far from both speaker and listener (physically or mentally)

In Ese director es muy famoso en nuestra ciudad, ese indicates a specific director that both people can identify, but he’s not being presented as “right here with me” (which would invite este) nor as very distant (which could invite aquel).

In practice, native speakers don’t always think consciously about distance; they just pick the form that feels natural for the context and how “psychologically close” the person seems.

Why do we say ese director instead of just el director or un director?

All three are possible, but they mean different things:

Ese director es muy famoso en nuestra ciudad.
→ That director is very famous in our city.
You are pointing out a specific director (like one you see on TV or in a photo, or you both know who you mean).
El director es muy famoso en nuestra ciudad.
→ The director is very famous in our city.
Refers to the director already known in the conversation or context (for example, the director of a specific school, theater, or company everyone has in mind). No pointing; just “the one we both know”.
Un director es muy famoso en nuestra ciudad.
→ A director is very famous in our city.
Introduces a director we haven’t clearly identified yet. It sounds like “there is a (certain) director who is very famous here”.

So ese is chosen because the speaker is identifying or “pointing out” a particular director.

Does ese change form depending on gender and number?

Yes, ese must agree with the noun it modifies in gender and number. The forms are:

Masculine singular: ese (ese director)
Feminine singular: esa (esa directora)
Masculine plural: esos (esos directores)
Feminine plural: esas (esas directoras)

There is also a neuter eso, but that is used without a noun, for abstract things:

Eso es importante. → That is important.

In your sentence, director is masculine singular, so you use ese.

What exactly can director mean in Spain? Is it just “film director”?

In Spain, director is a general word for a person in charge of something. It can mean:

A film director: director de cine
A school principal / headteacher: director del colegio, director del instituto
The director of a company or department: director de la empresa, director de marketing
The artistic director of a theater, etc.

So Ese director es muy famoso en nuestra ciudad could be talking about any kind of director. The exact type would normally be clear from the context or be specified:

Ese director de cine es muy famoso en nuestra ciudad.
Ese director del colegio es muy famoso en nuestra ciudad.

Why do we use es and not está here?

Spanish contrasts ser and estar, both of which translate as to be in English:

ser → for more permanent characteristics, identity, profession, inherent traits:
- Es alto. (He is tall.)
- Es médico. (He is a doctor.)
- Es famoso. (He is famous.)
estar → for temporary states, locations, changing conditions:
- Está cansado. (He is tired.)
- Está en casa. (He is at home.)
- Está enfermo. (He is ill – usually temporary.)

Being famous is treated as a relatively stable characteristic, so Spanish uses ser:

Ese director es muy famoso en nuestra ciudad.

Using está famoso would sound wrong or at best very unusual in standard Spanish.

Why is famoso after the verb and not directly before the noun, as in famoso director?

In your sentence, famoso is not directly modifying director inside the noun phrase; it is part of the predicate:

Subject: Ese director
Verb: es
Predicate adjective: muy famoso en nuestra ciudad

So it’s literally: That director / is / very famous in our city.
The position mirrors English: adjective after to be.

You can put famoso before the noun, but it changes the structure:

Ese famoso director es muy conocido en nuestra ciudad.
→ That famous director is very well known in our city.

Here famoso is inside the noun phrase ese famoso director (that famous director). In your original sentence, we’re simply stating a characteristic of ese director, so it naturally goes after es.

Why is it muy famoso and not mucho famoso?

Spanish distinguishes muy and mucho:

muy → used with adjectives and adverbs:
- muy famoso (very famous)
- muy alto (very tall)
- muy bien (very well)
mucho / mucha / muchos / muchas (adjective) → used with nouns:
- mucha fama (a lot of fame)
- mucho dinero (a lot of money)
- muchos problemas (many problems)
mucho (adverb) → used with verbs:
- Trabaja mucho. (He works a lot.)

Since famoso is an adjective, you must use muy:

muy famoso ✅
mucho famoso ❌ (incorrect)

Why do we say en nuestra ciudad and not de nuestra ciudad?

The preposition changes the meaning:

famoso en nuestra ciudad → famous in our city
Focus: the place where he is well known.
famoso de nuestra ciudad is not idiomatic in this position. If you use de, you usually restructure the sentence:
- Ese director de nuestra ciudad es muy famoso.
  → That director from our city is very famous.

Here de nuestra ciudad describes his origin or affiliation (“from our city”), not where he is famous.

So:

To say he is known within our city → famoso en nuestra ciudad
To say he is a director from our city → director de nuestra ciudad (with a different sentence structure).

Why is it nuestra ciudad and not nuestro ciudad?

In Spanish, possessive adjectives must agree with the gender and number of the noun, not with the person possessing it.

nuestro / nuestros → for masculine nouns (singular/plural)
nuestra / nuestras → for feminine nouns (singular/plural)

The noun ciudad is grammatically feminine, so you must use nuestra:

nuestra ciudad (our city) ✅
nuestro ciudad ❌

Other examples:

nuestro coche (our car) – coche is masculine
nuestras amigas (our [female] friends) – amigas is feminine plural

How would the sentence change if we were talking about a female director?

You would need to change all the relevant words to the feminine form:

Esa directora es muy famosa en nuestra ciudad.

Changes:

ese → esa (to agree with a feminine noun)
director → directora (female director)
famoso → famosa (to agree with directora)

Everything must agree in gender (feminine) and number (singular).

How would you say this in the plural, if we are talking about several directors?

For several (male or mixed-gender) directors:

Esos directores son muy famosos en nuestra ciudad.

For several female directors:

Esas directoras son muy famosas en nuestra ciudad.

Agreements:

ese → esos / esa → esas (plural demonstratives)
director → directores / directora → directoras (plural nouns)
famoso → famosos / famosa → famosas (plural adjectives to match the noun)

In Spain, does ese have any special nuance apart from distance? Can it sound negative?

The basic function of ese is demonstrative (that), but in colloquial Spanish (including in Spain), it can sometimes carry an attitude:

Ese tío… can sound slightly negative or dismissive, depending on tone.
Ese profesor with a certain tone of voice can imply annoyance: “that (damn) teacher”.

However, in a neutral sentence like:

Ese director es muy famoso en nuestra ciudad.

there is no automatic negative nuance. It’s normally just identifying that specific director. Any extra attitude (positive or negative) would come from context and intonation, not from ese alone.

How do you pronounce the words director and ciudad in European Spanish?

In standard peninsular (Spain) Spanish:

director → [diɾekˈtoɾ]
- Stress on the last syllable: di-rec-TOR.
- The r in the middle is a single tap [ɾ], similar to the American English “t” in “water” (in rapid speech).
- The final r is trilled or at least clearer.
ciudad → [θjuˈðað]
- The ci is pronounced with the /θ/ sound (like th in think): [θju] (a bit like “thyoo”).
- Stress on the last syllable: ciu-DAD.
- The d between vowels is soft, almost like the th in this.

So the whole sentence in a typical central/northern Spain accent:

Ese director es muy famoso en nuestra ciudad.
≈ [ˈese ðineɾekˈtoɾ es muj faˈmoso en ˈnwestɾa θjuˈðað]

Can the word order be changed, for example to Ese director de nuestra ciudad es muy famoso or Ese director es muy famoso en la ciudad?

Yes, you can change the word order, but the meaning shifts slightly:

Ese director de nuestra ciudad es muy famoso.
This usually means:
That director, who is from our city, is very famous (possibly in general).
de nuestra ciudad now describes his origin/affiliation, not where he is famous.
Ese director es muy famoso en la ciudad.
This sounds like “That director is very famous in the city,” but la ciudad now usually refers to “the city” previously mentioned or obvious from context, not necessarily “our city”. You’ve lost the explicit our.

Your original:

Ese director es muy famoso en nuestra ciudad.

focuses clearly on how famous he is within our city and keeps the possessive nuestra.

Is there a difference between muy famoso en nuestra ciudad and muy famoso por nuestra ciudad?

Yes, there is an important difference:

muy famoso en nuestra ciudad
→ The standard way to say very famous in our city, i.e. people who live here know him.
muy famoso por nuestra ciudad
This is not the usual way to express “famous throughout our city”.
In modern usage, famoso por is mainly:
- famous for (because of) something:
  - Es famoso por sus películas. → He is famous for his films.
Using por with a place normally suggests “because of” or “around/through”, and famoso por nuestra ciudad sounds odd or unclear in standard Spanish.

So, to say he is known within our city, the natural choice is:

muy famoso en nuestra ciudad ✅