¿Qué es "ese"?

Question

In my Fluencia lesson, I was to translate, "According to my brother-in-law, he is the best doctor in the city." The correct answer is según mi cuñado ese es el mejor doctor de la ciudad. I don't understand the "ese". Can someone shed some light? Thanks.

I can't. :) - bosquederoble, Nov 17, 2016

Hi Fillmoe. Send an e-mail to this address: [e-mail] - rac1, Nov 17, 2016

Answer 1

Thanks, all, it never occurred to me that the Fluencia site might have made a mistake. I assumed the use of "ese" was something I'd missed in earlier lessons (happens a lot!). I will ask the help desk at Fluencia. Really, I very much appreciate your help.

Answer 2

In literature, this use of "ese" can be used to say "the former" or "the person just mentioned."

Answer 3

When we use ese in this context without a corresponding noun it refers to a male person, but it has a nuance of disrespect. If you want to say this without the disrespect, you can use Ray¨s suggestion as long as you have context to indicate who is being discussed, or you can say: Según mi cuñado ese doctor es el mejor de la ciudad.

Answer 4

Well, I did ask the help desk at Fluencia, and within hours, on el día de gracias, I received an answer from Stephanie:

"Ese" is a demonstrative adjective meaning "that". The full sentence would translate to: "According to my brother-in-law, that (as in, "that doctor") is the best doctor in the city.

If you would like to see a more in-depth explanation of this word and similar ones, you can do so here: http://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/90 This topic is also covered in Fluencia in Level 3, Unit 4.

So, thanks to all who helped me!

That's is much like my response. - Daniela2041, Nov 26, 2016

But my comment related to the fact that if you were asked to translate "he is" would you use "ese". If I were asked to translate "that is" it would have been obvious. On Duolingo if you mix up this, that or he/she it you will get it wrong every time. - bosquederoble, Nov 26, 2016

Answer 5

Most probably it is a typo. Good luck mate.

Según mi cuñado , es se el mejor doctor de la ciudad.

According to my brother-in-law, he is the best doctor in the city.

But I am probably wrong , would not be the first time, nor the last.

Thanks, Ray. At least now I know I'm not totally loca! - Fillmoe, Nov 17, 2016

Ay, Ramón your "es se el mejor''------" is either a typo or a mistakes. - Daniela2041, Nov 18, 2016

My typo--take the "s" off mistakes. - Daniela2041, Nov 18, 2016