confusing example - en esto

Question

I was going over the Demonstrative Pronouns under the Reference section and under Neuter Demonstrative Pronouns, it said that "esto" is "this" and "eso" is "that". However, the very first example given is "En esto... (At that time...)". It is not in accordance with the explanation given on the use of "esto", and therefore got me confused. Was that a just typo?

Answer 1

Hi rikko, I don't know if the translation is all too appropiate...may be better:

While I was.....

En esto/eso estaba cuando llegó mi madre.

While I was doing that (something mentioned before) my mom came.

Yes, in English we would only use that, in Spanish you can use both.

Answer 2

Thanks, Heidita! I understand if what you are saying is that "at that time" can be translated as either "en esto" or "en eso". However, if that section is intended to explain when to use "esto" and when to use "eso", wouldn't that be the wrong example to use there to illustrate that "esto" means "this"? Because that example shows that "esto" means "that". The preceding explanation in that section just said that "eso" (and not esto) means "that". It is only that first example that is apparently inconsistent with the explanations given. All the other examples support the explanations. I was thinking that maybe that example should have been "En esto... (At this time...)" instead.

Just in case I am going to change this...to avoid confusion, thanks for pointing it out, anything you see, being such an observant student, we appreciate all input, rikko, thanks:-) - 00494d19, Mar 27, 2010

Thank you too! - Rikko, Mar 27, 2010