You can now point at any noun you can name: este libro, esa casa, aquella montaña. But what if you do not know what something is? You cannot pick a gender for it! For exactly this, Spanish has three neuter demonstrative pronouns.
esto, eso, aquello
The same three distances as the demonstrative adjectives — but these forms never change: no gender, no plural.
| Distance | Pronoun | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| near me | esto | this |
| near you | eso | that |
| far from us both | aquello | that (over there) |
| What is this? | ¿Qué es esto? |
| What is that over there in the sky? | ¿Qué es aquello en el cielo? |
| That over there is a mountain. | Aquello es una montaña. |
Ideas and situations
The neuter forms also point at whole statements and situations — things that have no gender at all. You have seen eso do this since the beginning:
| That is not true. | Eso no es verdad. |
| I do not understand this. | No entiendo esto. |
Never before a noun
Unlike este or aquella, the neuter pronouns always stand alone. Before a noun, keep using the adjective forms: este regalo, but esto by itself.
| This is a gift for you. | Esto es un regalo para ti. |
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