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How to Say "these" in Spanish

The most common Spanish word for “these” is “estas” — use 'estas' when referring to feminine, plural nouns that are near the speaker, acting either as an adjective directly before the noun or as a pronoun replacing it..

English → Spanish

estas

/ES-tas//ˈestas/

adjective, pronounA1general
Use 'estas' when referring to feminine, plural nouns that are near the speaker, acting either as an adjective directly before the noun or as a pronoun replacing it.
A person's hand pointing to a group of three red notebooks on a desk directly in front of them.

Examples

Estas flores huelen muy bien.

These flowers smell very good.

Estas manzanas son para ti.

These apples are for you.

No entiendo estas instrucciones.

I don't understand these instructions.

¿De quién son estas llaves?

Whose keys are these?

Pointing Out Feminine Things Nearby

'Estas' is a 'pointing word' used for multiple things that have a feminine grammatical gender (like 'casas' or 'sillas') and are close to you.

Matching in Gender and Number

This word must match the noun it describes. Use 'estas' for feminine plural nouns, 'estos' for masculine plural, 'esta' for feminine singular, and 'este' for masculine singular.

Replacing a Noun

You use 'estas' as a pronoun to avoid saying a feminine, plural noun over again. It stands in for 'the things we are talking about'.

Mixing up 'Estas' and 'Estos'

Mistake: “Me gustan estas zapatos.”

Correction: Me gustan estos zapatos. 'Zapatos' is a masculine word, so you need to use the masculine pointer 'estos'.

Mixing up 'These' and 'Those'

Mistake: “Mira estas nubes allá en el cielo.”

Correction: Mira esas nubes allá en el cielo. For things that are further away, use 'esas' (those) or 'aquellas' (those way over there).

Using it with the noun

Mistake: “Prefiero estas las flores.”

Correction: Prefiero estas. OR Prefiero estas flores. 'Estas' either replaces the noun ('flores') or describes it, but it doesn't do both at the same time.

tales

/TAH-less//ˈtales/

adjectiveB1formal
Use 'tales' as an adjective before a plural noun to emphasize the nature or type of the items, similar to 'such' in English.
A young child pointing definitively at a red toy train that is sitting on the floor next to a blue toy car, indicating the train is the specific one previously mentioned.

Examples

No se deben ignorar tales advertencias.

Such warnings should not be ignored.

Tienen muchos problemas financieros. Tales problemas requieren soluciones urgentes.

They have many financial problems. Such problems require urgent solutions.

Vimos leones y tigres. No había tales animales en el zoológico de antes.

We saw lions and tigers. There weren't such animals in the previous zoo.

Si tienes tales ideas, debes compartirlas con el equipo.

If you have such ideas, you must share them with the team.

Always Plural

Remember 'tales' is the plural form of 'tal.' It can be used with both masculine and feminine plural nouns (e.g., 'tales libros' and 'tales casas').

Referring Back

This word works like a pointer, summarizing the qualities or type of noun you just mentioned, similar to saying 'these kinds of' in English.

Choosing between 'estas' and 'tales'

The most common mistake is using 'tales' when 'estas' is appropriate. Remember that 'estas' is a direct demonstrative (like 'these'/'those') for feminine plural nouns, while 'tales' is more abstract, meaning 'such' or emphasizing a category.

Related Translations

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