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

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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:

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.


 * 1) Essa bola "That ball" (feminine singular).
 * 2) Este carro "This car" (masculine singular).
 * 3) Isso or Isso ai "That one" or "That thing over there".

Read the sentences below:
 * 1) Poderia-me / Podias-me dar isso?  "Could you / Can you give me that?"
 * 2) O que é aquilo? "What is that?"