Ese/esa vs. aquel/aquella
 

So, I will admit that I am easily confused. :confused::D

I am confused about the difference between the uses of "ese" and "aquel". If I understand it correctly, "ese" means "that" and "aquel" means something like "that one over there". Right?

Would someone please give me some examples/counter-examples so that I can compare the uses of the two words? Thanks!!!

This thread has some good examples.

Thanks, Rusty! :)

- este, esta, esto: muy cercano al hablante:
Este libro que tengo en las manos es muy interesante.
Esta corbata que llevo puesta no me gusta.
¿Qué es esto que tengo pegado en la espalda?

- ese, esa, eso: cercano al hablante:
Ese libro que tienes en las manos es muy interesante.
Esa corbata que llevas no me gusta.
¿Qué es eso que llevas pegado a la espalda?

- Aquel, aquella, aquello: más lejano al hablante.
Aquel libro que estabas leyendo en la Biblioteca el otro día parecía muy interesante.
Me gustaba aquella corbata que llevabas el día de tu boda.
¿Qué era aquello que llevabas pegado a la espalda el día de la fiesta?

I hope it'll be helpful :)

YES, Irmamar - that is very helpful! Although I have to tell you that I'm a bit curious about what might have been on someone's "espalda" at the party........... :)

A quick question about your second example "Esta corbata que llevo puesta no me gusta." You used "llevar puesta" in the first set of examples (for este/a/o), yet you only used "llevar" in the other two (for ese and aquel). Is there a reason? Does it really make a difference?

(I started, and just re-read, the discussion at http://forums.tomisimo.org/showthread.php?t=3350 about llevar puesto.....) I'm just curious in this case....

Another question ... when do I use "ese/este/aquel" and when do I use "eso/esto/aquello"?

Use the neuter ending -o- when the gender is not known or if an abstract idea is the topic of discussion. Once the gender is known, use the proper ending, -e (pl. -os) or -a (pl. -as).

Imagine you have a child and he's left a paper with glue on the seat of your car. So, you go to the party and the paper with glue is in your back (of course, you don't realize you have that paper). Next day, I see you and I ask "¿Qué era aquello que llevabas en la espalda (o pegado a la espalda) el día de la fiesta?. Was that your question? (I'm not very sure) :thinking:

You can use both "llevar puesta" o "llevar", at least in Spain:

Llevo puesta una camisa roja.
Llevo una camisa roja.

Of course, it all depends on the context. If I call you up and ask you:

- ¿Qué llevas puesto?, you'll answer me:
- Llevo una camisa roja.

If I found you on the street and you have a bag with you, I could ask you:
- ¿Qué llevas en esa bolsa?, you'll answer me:
- Llevo una camisa roja (but you're not wearing it, of course)

But when talking about garment, it's usual to say "llevar" instead of "llevar puesto":

- Llevas puesta una corbata muy bonita / Llevas una corbata muy bonita.

About demonstratives, look if they have a noun following it, this is an important clue: neuter demonstratives (esto, eso aquello) are used as pronouns, so, they are never with a noun:

- esto / eso / aquello (no noun):

Me gusta esto que llevas
Me gusta eso que tienes
Me gustó aquello que dijiste

If you use both feminine or masculine demonstratives as pronoun, the noun is known by the speaker.

- este (-a) / ese (-a) / aquel (-la):

¿Te gusta este vestido? No, me gusta más este.
¿Prefieres ese libro? Sí, prefiero ese.
¿Te gustaba más aquella lámpara? Aquella no me gustaba nada.

[Note: years before pronouns were written with accent: me gusta éste /ése, etc., but RAE has changed the rules. One of these days I have to go there and tell them to let the rules as they were before, they were more logical than nowadays :mad:]

Thanks SO much for all of this wonderful info and great examples! That helps SO much!!!!

You're welcome and I'm happy ;)