In this lesson, we’ll review a topic we’ve covered before, which is Portuguese demonstratives – este, esta, esse, essa, aquele, and aquela – as well as their plural forms. In Portuguese, demonstrative determiners indicate where something is in relation to to the speaker and listener in terms of place or time, and must agree in gender and number with the noun they define.
Este(s) & Esta(s)
Este (masculine) and esta (feminine) are the singular form equivalents of “this” in English. These determiners are used to refer to specific things or persons that are close to the speaker. Examples:
Este chocolate é demasiado doce!This chocolate is too sweet!
Esta sanduíche é o meu almoço.This sandwich is my lunch.
Estes (masculine) and estas (feminine) are the plural forms of este and esta, and correspond to “these” in English. Examples:
Estes sapatos vão bem com o teu fato.These shoes go well with your suit.
Estas caixas vão para o armazém.These boxes go to the warehouse.
Esse(s) & Essa(s)
Esse (masculine) and essa (feminine) are the singular form equivalents to “that” in English. These determiners are used to refer to specific things or persons that are slightly distant from the speaker, or close to the listener. Examples:
Esse computador não funciona.That computer doesn’t work.
Essa senhora é a tua bisavó.That lady is your great-grandmother.
Esses (masculine) and essas (feminine) are the plural forms of esse and essa. They indicate the same implied distance and correspond to “those” in English. Examples:
Esses lápis são para meter na mochila.Be sure to put those pencils in the backpack(BE - rucksack) .
Essas canetas são azuis?Are those pens blue?
Aquele(s) & Aquela(s)
Aquele (masculine) and aquela (feminine) are also singular form equivalents to “that” in English, but with a difference. These determiners are used to refer to specific things or persons that are far from both the speaker and the listener. Examples:
Aquele gorro é teu?Is that cap yours?
Aquela é a chave do sótão.That is the key to the attic.
Aqueles (masculine) and aquelas (feminine) are the plural forms of aquele and aquela. They indicate the same implied distance and correspond to “those” in English.
Aqueles rapazes estão vestidos de azul.Those boys are dressed in blue.
Aquelas janelas estão tão sujas!Those windows are so dirty!
Where does isso(s)/isto(s) fit in? I’m sure the explanation is featured here, somewhere. I’ll keep searching… 🙂
Those are not included in this learning note because they are not demonstrative determiners, but demonstrative pronouns. They fully replace the noun they refer to (determiners can simply precede it) and they’re invariable words 🙂 Here’s more on them: Invariable Demonstrative Pronouns
Obrigado, Joseph!! 🙂
Sempre às ordens!
Esses lápis são para meter na mochila. Your translation was. Be sure to pack those pencils.
I was wondering na mochila was, backpack was missing for your translation, I know a small point, but it was a bit confusing to me
Thank you for your feedback, Ruth. Translation updated to avoid confusing anyone else 🙂
Thank you , the above have always baffled me, now clearer and of to remember! If I need to refer back to this lesson, where do look in the menu? Obrigado Alan.
Hi Alan! So glad this was helpful for you! There are 2 ways you can refer back to this:
– Click the “Bookmark” button at the top of the page next to the title. That will add this Learning Note to your bookmarks, which appear on your welcome/bem-vindo page (under the Account tab in the menu). On the bem-vindo page you just scroll down and click on “Bookmarks” to see anything you’ve bookmarked from each part of the site.
– Or you could go to the full list of Learning Notes (under the Learn tab in the menu) and search “demonstrative determiners” in the search box.
Just one little error: when tipping on the tartaruga within the exercise of demonstrative determiners at “este chocolate é demasiado doce” you will hear te,te,te,te,te,…..
Uh oh, how did that happen? Thanks for letting us know! We’ll get it fixed… 🙂
I still think that this programme is excellent. Only one issue – why not real English and not American slang – mochila is rucksack and not backpack!
Thanks for the feedback! So glad you’re getting a lot out of the program. 🙂
We use “rucksack” in the U.S., too, but the meaning is a little different here. We typically use it to refer to a larger, more rugged backpack, like the kind used by the military or sometimes (ironically!) the kind you use to go “backpacking”. We typically use “backpack” or “book bag” to refer to the kind you would take to school (i.e. what you would be using for pencils, in this case).
We have a lot of users in both the US and the UK, so I understand the frustration with the vocabulary differences, as it’s never possible to strike the perfect balance. We do make an effort to include alternatives when possible, but I’m sure there are many we’ve missed. I’ll update this learning note to show both options.
Bom dia!
I already completed the lessons with de + demonstratives and pronouns/prepositions…
However I’d like to know when to use de/da/do. For example, if I want to say A casa da Maria is it correct? Or does it stay invariable A casa de Maria? Is there a specific lesson on that? That are the rules for when it is feminine/masculine etc? Thank you very much for the great job! I’m really enjoying Practice Portuguese!
Olá! Both ways are correct. “A casa da Maria” and “A casa de Maria”. The version with “da” would be the most commonly used – saying “de Maria” sounds formal and is usually reserved for literary, journalistic and other similar contexts.
“De” is the real proposition. “Da” is the contraction of “de” with the definite article “a”, and “do” is the contraction of “de” with the definite article “o”. So, you’ll only use “do” and “da” when a definite article is included in the sentence. It’s very hard to dissect when definite articles can be used or not, because this varies a lot from sentence to sentence, but this learning note does get a bit into it and should serve as a starting point: Definite Articles in Portuguese
Feel free to reach out via support or the forum if you’d like further clarification on this subject 🙂
Hi. I see in the last unit and in this one, there seems to be some variance in the use of the definite article with possessive pronoun, e.g. “O carro e o meu” vs “Aquele gorro e teu”. Have I missed something? How do you know when to use the article or not?
Olá, Claudine. Generally speaking, the definite article might be added to emphasize that that particular item is yours, as opposed to other items around. Without the article, we’d simply be describing the possessive relationship between owner and object without any added emphasis and also without restricting ownership to that item (i.e. people might have more than just that one object; it’s open-ended). If in doubt, you can always keep the articles and you probably won’t be wrong, because it’s not often that you can do away with articles in European Portuguese.
For example:
– Aquele carro é o teu? = Is that your car (specifically that one, and probably not any other around)?
– Aquele carro é teu? = Is that your car (whether or not you have more)?
Muito obrigada, Joseph. That makes sense now.
A great lesson as usual. Can you clarify why azul is singular in the phrase
Aqueles rapazes estão vestidos de azul…
But plural in the phrase
Essas canetas são azuis?
Thanks for your comment!
In “vestidos de azul”, ‘azul’ is working as a noun, derived from (or replacing) the noun phrase ‘cor azul’. It doesn’t need to be pluralized, since it refers firstly to the color itself as a single concept. In ‘Essas canetas são azuis’, ‘azuis’ is an adjective in the sentence, so it is indeed being used to directly qualify all the pens and is pluralized accordingly.