# Este, ese, aquel before nouns

> id: grammar.adjectives.demonstratives · category: grammar · depth: standard · levels: A1 · review: internally_reviewed

**Summary.** Three distances agreeing with the noun: este libro, esa mesa, aquellos años. Ese also covers 'near you' and the recently mentioned.

Demonstrative adjectives go before the noun and mark three distances, agreeing in gender and number: este/esta/estos/estas (near the speaker — este libro), ese/esa/esos/esas (near the listener or just mentioned — esa mesa), aquel/aquella/aquellos/aquellas (far from both, in space or time — aquellos años).

Ese covers a lot of ground: things near the person you're talking to, and things recently brought up in the conversation. Aquel adds distance, often nostalgic or remote: aquella época, aquel verano.

Position affects tone. Before the noun they're neutral (ese modelo); placed after the noun (which then needs the article too) they often sound dismissive: el tipo ese ('that guy'), la idea esa. In time expressions: esta semana, ese día ('the day in question'), aquella vez.

## Examples
- ¿Cuánto cuesta ese modelo? — How much does that model cost?
- Aquellos años fueron difíciles. — Those years (back then) were hard.
- Esta propuesta me convence más que esa. — This proposal convinces me more than that one.

Related: grammar.pronouns.demonstrative, grammar.adjectives.agreement

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