Lesson 44: This, that and these and those
We've already come across 'this' with 'esta noche' which although it translates literally ast 'this night' is used more to say 'tonight'. In this lesson we'll recap and see that, these and those!
But before we begin let's recap a concept:
Masculine, Feminine and Words ending 'ma'
We've already talked how:
- Worde ending in 'o' are generally masculine
- Words ending in 'a' are genuinely feminine
- but in 'ma' are masculine
This last set came from Greek where they are nuetral but as Spanish does not have a nuetral they were absorbed as masculine.
 Spanish |  English |
|---|---|
| El problema | The problem |
| El systema | The system |
| El paradigma | The Paradigm |
| El diagrama | The diagram |
| El esquema | The scheme (outline/diagram) |
On that last one remember - as we covered in a previous lesson - that Spanish really doesn't like words starting with 's' and then a consonant so normally in this situation you find a 'e' has been stuck on the front.
Exceptions
Of course there are a handful of exceptions to these rules
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| El planeta | The planet |
| Un planeta | A planet |
| Los planetas | The planets |
This and That - These and Those
The words for "This", "That", "These" and "Those" are also affected by the gender of the word.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Los autos | The cars |
| Este autos | This car |
| Las noches | The nights |
| Esta noche | This night / tonight |
Now remove the 't' from 'Este' or 'Esta' and you get "that".
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Ese auto | That car |
| Quiero ese auto | I want that car |
So let's just break off to have a go at a mega sentence: "I don't want that car because it is very big".
- "I don't want" - 'No quiero'
- "that car" - 'ese coche'
- "because" - 'porque'
- "it is very big" - 'es muy grande'
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| No quiero ese auto porque es muy grande | I don't want that car because it is very big |
So back to this and that!
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Esa noche | That night |
| Esas noches | Those nights |
And finally 'these'
In the feminine form there is consistancy:
- la ("the" - feminine words)
- esta ("this")
- esa ("that")
- estas ("these")
- esas ("those").
The 'a' is a constant but although it is not that straightforward in the masculine we can still create a mental path:
- el ("the" - masiculine words)
- este ("this")
- ese ("that")
- lo ("it" - masucline words)
- estos ("these")
- esos ("those").
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| El coche | The car |
| Este coche | This car |
| Este auto | This car |
| Los coches | The cars |
| Estos coches | These cars |
| Ese auto | That car |
| Esos autos | Those cars |
Manual Stuff - 'Mano'
'Mano' means hand and there are a few ways to remember it:
- It is the only word in the Spanish language to end 'o' and be feminine (so that surprise factor helps!)
- It is the root to words like "Manual" - which in Spanish is 'Manual'!
- It can be found in "Manuscript" to show the script was written by hand.
- We see it in "Manage" which basically means to handle something and "Manage" actually comes from French where it meant "to train horses".
A little fascinating point on "Manage". Because originally it came from training horses and horses were an early form of transport we still see this root in the Spanish word 'manejar' which is one way of saying "to drive (a car)".
Now if you have been working on your vocab you might say "What about 'foto'?" or a few other words that end in 'o' and are feminine. But a closer look at these reveals they are short forms.
'foto' is short for 'fotografía' which ends in 'a' and so explains why 'foto' is feminine. 'Moto' (meaning "motorbike") is short of 'motocicleta'.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| La mano | The hand |
| Las manos | The hands |
| Esta mano | This hand |
| Esa mano | That hand |
| Estas manos | These hands |
So lets use this hand in some common phrases:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¿Me puedes dar una mano? | Can you give me a hand? |
| ¿Me podrías dar una mano? | Could you give me a hand? |
| ¿Podrías darme una mano? | Could you give me a hand? |
| Deberías darme una mano | You (informal) should give me a hand |
| Deberían darme una mano | You (group) should give me a hand |
| Nos deberían dar una mano | You guys should give us a hand |
The 'me' above is underlined just as a reminder that it can go in two different places as could the 'nos' - 'Deberían darnos una mano'.
Manejar - to drive or to manage
Generally speaking 'manejar' is used more in South America to mean "to drive" while in Spain it is used to for "to manage" but you would be understood even if you used them the other way around as long as there was some context. We'll steer more with "to manage".
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Manejar | To manage (a situation) |
| Manejo la problema | I am managing the problem |
| Estoy Manejando la problema | I am managing the problem (right now) |
'Tomar' and 'sacar'
'Tomar' ("to take / to drink") and 'Sacar' ("to take / to get") are often used interchangeably.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Estoy tomando una foto | I'm taking a foto (right now) |
| Estoy sacando una foto | I'm taking/getting a foto (right now) |
But let's practice some phrases with 'tomar'
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Tomaría una foto | I would take a photo |
So lets go for a mega sentence: "I would like to take a photo but I don't have my camera":
- "I would like" (it would please me) - 'Me gustaría'
- "to take" - 'tomar'
- "but" - 'pero'
- "I don't have" - 'no tengo'
- "my camera" - 'mi cámara'
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Me gustaría tomar una foto pero no tengo mi cámara | I would like to take a photo but I don't have my camera |