Difference between "ello" and "esto" or "eso"

Question

I was going to ask about the meaning of "ello", but there was a previous post which provided various examples quoted below, but it seems to me that ello in the examples could be replaced by eso or esto with no loss of meaning.

The examples provided are as follows-

"no nos llevamos bien, pero ello no nos impide formar un buen equipo -> we don't get on very well, but it o that doesn't stop us making a good team no quiero hablar de ello -> I don't want to talk about it por ello -> for that reason It; this business, that whole affair.

Ello es difícil -> it's awkward Ello no me gusta -> I don't like it Es que ello.

Es por ello que -> Por ello no quiero -> that's why I don't want to"

Answer 1

I'll go into "ello" here:

From my understanding, "ello" is almost dead in spoken Spanish, only existing in literary contexts. It acts as a generic word for "it" or "that". It doesn't really have much meaning, but instead fulfills a grammatical function (a dummy subject/object) that nowadays is filled by "esto".

In English, verb "to be" requires a subject grammatically. You can't just say "is" or "eats", you need to add a subject. But if I told you to use the verb "rains" in a sentence, what on earth could the subject be? Well nothing can really "rain", like "I rain" doesn't really make much sense. So English speakers, realizing that they need a subject but not thinking of any, use the word "it". It is called a Dummy Subject, since it doesn't mean anything and is only used because English as a language requires it.

If you look around, you'll actually fund dummy subjects everywhere. In the sentence "It's funny that X", what does the "it" mean? Nothing, it's a dummy subject because "is" requires a subject.

Not all languages work this way. Spanish verbs do not require subjects (for example "eats" is a valid sentence). Subjects are only marked for emphasis or clarity. Because of this, in situations English would need a dummy subject, Spanish just uses no subject. "It's funny that X" would be "Es cómico que X".

If you look at this thread with examples of "ello" you'll notice that it's pretty much used as a dummy pronoun in literature. In Spoken Spanish, speakers usually use "esto" if they want a clearer sentence.

EDIT: I'll add that in Spanish, prepositions require objects. Because of this "ello" is used in literature as a dummy object

Whew! thank you, amigo! - Jubilado, Oct 21, 2015

Haha no problem. I saw your post about "es" not needing a subject and decided to throw in my two cents as to why - HackerKing, Oct 21, 2015

¡Impresionante! ¡Guau - Daniela2041, Oct 21, 2015

Eso es una lección y media! Probably not good Spanish. That's a lesson and a half! Muchísimas gracias - mojac, Oct 22, 2015

Answer 2

I don't have the definite grammar answer and this could be all wrong, but my understanding is that ello is used in vague circumstances, and does not refer back to a particular antecedent. I don't use it very often so far in my Spanish, but that is how I would view it. I would always use Es difícil for It is difficult

I would use eso or esto almost always. Here's an example: "Aprender inglés es difícil." "Sí, eso (or esto) es difícil." '

If you could edit your post to include a link to the previous post, it would really help me!

Perdone, no sé cómo hacer una "link". De todas maneras no era mucho más en el "post" - mojac, Oct 22, 2015

Answer 3

eso = that

esto = this

These two are simple.

In English we have he/she/it. Three third person pronouns. In Spanish there are also three third person pronouns, except that one is seldom used. They are el/ella/ello

By the way this and that also has three versions in Spanish: este/esta/esto, ese/esa/eso.

The last being a nueter form in both cases. Used with indefinite things like ideas.

At least that is my non-native take on it.