Esto and esta?

Question

When do you use "esto" and when do you use "esta"? I am doing a lesson on a different website with these two words, but they do not explain the difference. I assumed you would use "esto" when a word ended in "o" and "esta" when a word ended in "a" but that is not how they are doing it. I looked in the reference section here but could not find anything about it. If anyone could point me in the right direction, or explain the difference to me that would be great. Thank you!

Answer 1

Hola!

Ok, "esto", "este", and "esta" all mean "this". You use "este" when you say "this + (masculine noun)". You use "esta" when you say "this + (feminine noun)".

Este perro - this dog

Esta galleta - this cookie

"Esto" is a neuter demonstrative, and is used when the subject is not known. So, for example, "What is this?" could be translated as "¿Qué es esto?".

Here is a reference article regarding demonstratives adjectives. Click here for the reference article

I hope I helped.

Thank you. That does make sense. See I think they are doing it wrong on the website because they were using "esto" for masculine and feminine nouns and that wasn't making sense to me. And they also said it meant "it" not "this". Thank you for explaining! - jorden365, Jul 14, 2011

For example, they said: "Esto no es una silla. Esto es una mesa." - jorden365, Jul 14, 2011

Hmm...that's strange! I agree with you ... that's wrong. As far as I know, that would have to be "esta". - SonrisaDelSol, Jul 14, 2011

Genial, SunSmile.:) - Deanski, Jul 14, 2011

Muchas gracias :) - SonrisaDelSol, Jul 14, 2011