Spanish Determiners: Demonstratives, Articles, Possessives, and Quantifiers

All flashcards

What distance contrast do este, ese, and aquel typically express?

**Este** points to something near the speaker, **ese** to something nearer the listener, and **aquel** to something away from both.

What are the neutral singular demonstrative pronouns, and how are they used?

**Esto, eso,** and **aquello** refer to an unspecified thing or idea. They stand alone as pronouns rather than appearing before a noun.

What does neuter **lo** do before an adjective?

**Lo** makes an adjective or similar expression refer to an abstract quality, idea, or unspecified thing, as in **lo bueno** (“the good”).

What can the possessives **su** and **sus** mean?

They can mean his, her, its, formal your, or their; the form agrees with the possessed item, not the owner.

How do Spanish possessive determiners generally agree with the noun?

They agree mainly in number and, for forms such as **nuestro**, also in gender: **nuestros libros**, **nuestras casas**.

Quiz questions

1. Which sequence gives the four forms of the Spanish definite article in masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, feminine plural order?Answer: El, la, los, las
2. Which phrase explicitly identifies a woman as the owner of a house?Answer: La casa de ella
3. Which phrase uses a long possessive adjective after the noun to mean “this Earth of ours”?Answer: Esta tierra nuestra
4. Which phrase shows determiner agreement with the grammatically feminine singular noun **gente**?Answer: Mucha gente
5. Which statement about plural indefinite articles in Spanish is accurate?Answer: Unos or unas can sometimes be omitted without changing the basic meaning.