Portuguese/Contents/L1/Lesson Nine - Getting The Groceries

Return to Portuguese – Return to Contents – Go to Lesson Ten Demonstrative Pronouns A demonstrative pronoun is used to point out something : this/these for something close to the speaker and that/those for something further away. In Portuguese there are three sets of demonstrative pronouns: Demonstrative Pronoun M sg F sg M pl F pl Neuter this/these near the speaker, near me este esta estes estas isto"this thing" that/those near the listener, near you esse essa esses essas isso"that thing" that/those (over there) beyond the speaker and the listener, away from both of us aquele aquela aqueles aquelas aquilo"that thing (over there)" Remember that the trailing "s" denotes plural. Demonstratives ending in "a" or "as" refer to feminine nouns. Isso and essa means that, este means this. Isso is only used for a neuter meaning "this thing". Masculine nouns use este meaning. Essa bola "That ball" (feminine singular). Este carro "This car" (masculine singular). Isso or Isso ai "That one" or "That thing over there". Read the sentences below: Poderia-me / Podias-me dar isso? "Could you / Can you give me that?" O que é aquilo? "What is that?"