"Este" vs. "Ese" in Spanish

Question

So I'm having a little confusion here on when to use este/estos vs. ese/esos. I thought that you use este/estos when it is near the speaker and ese/esos when it's near the listener. But when I took a quiz using that thought process, I got an answer incorrect. Any hints on how to remember how this works?

I don't really pay attention to location. I just try to use "este/estos" like "this/these" and "ese/esos" like I'd use "that/those" in English. Might not be the best thing, but that's what I do. - Goldie_Miel, Feb 17, 2012

Hi Sunny, cute picture and good question to get answered. Edited your title for clarity. - StuartSD, Feb 17, 2012

Thanks, Stuart. - SunnyGeek, Feb 17, 2012

Answer 1

The way I remember them is:

este, esta, esto have the letter 't' in them and touch starts with 't' and I use these words when they are close enough to touch, thus it means this (or with an 's' these).

ese, esa, eso all mean 'that' (and with the 's', those).

I can't vote for some reason but this was very helpful to me. Thanks! - Teresita212, Nov 22, 2014

Si, Esto es util.. Wait if este is this then when do we use esto? :). Time to read StuartSD's tags. :).. Gracias. - Adam2016, Aug 1, 2016

Answer 2

Hi! it's very simple:

Este = this

Ese = that

Estos = these

Esos = those

^^

Answer 3

Este y ese. This and that.

Answer 4

Hi Sunny, Ken's answer is helpful. Here are a few more posts from the forum you can review if you want some more background, "este, esta, and ese" and "eso, esto, ese, este". Welcome to Q&A and good luck with your studies!

I looked at those posts and they didn't help. I thought I used it correctly when I took my quiz as I thought I had good grasp but the answer was incorrect. - SunnyGeek, Feb 17, 2012