eso, esto, ese, este...

Question

Does anyone have a clever way to remember that "eso" is "that" and "esto" is "this?"

Same for "ese" and "este?"

Answer 1

Well... the pattern is not that difficult: closer ones have a "t", like "esto" and "este", and the farther ones don't. They are word you'll be using all the time, so I wouldn't bother coming up with fancy mnemonic methods for remembering these. If you want to know, etymologically, the "t" in "this" and "esto" have a common ancestor (and so does "that", but never mind).

Thank you. But I found another way to remember. In once lived in Jamaica where it was common to say "dat" for "that." And because "dat" has no "t," I'll remember, from now on, that "that" has no "t" in Spanish. - 005457e3, AGO 28, 2009

Answer 2

A little rhyme that I learned is "this and these both have T's". Of course this is a useful way of memorizing them in the beginning, but after awhile it becomes almost second nature to know which to use, although a dialouge such as this would be amusing:

A) ¿Cuál camiseta prefieres? B) Umm... umm, prefiero...sings rhyme under breathe ¡ah sí! ¡Prefiero esta camiseta!