What is the difference between "Esse", "Este" and "Aquele" in Portuguese?

Hi! =D

Today we go to learn what is the difference between "esse", "este" and "aquele" in Brazilian Portuguese and the variations about them.

It is not difficult, you will see.

Foto by Street Smart Brazil.

IMPORTANT:

The rules that I write here are valid for the formal Brazilian Portuguese and always good to know the grammatical rules of the language that we are learning. But during a conversation is very rare (really) we use the rules, especially about "ESSE" and "ESTE". Some Brazilians do not know and others just ignore the differences. So we almost always use "ESSE" and "AQUELE" for talks, leaving the "ESTE" only on paper.

TRANSLATE AND VARIATIONS

ESTE (male), ESTA (female), ISTO (neutral) = in English is THIS.

ESTES (male plural) and ESTAS (female plural) = is THESE.

ESSE (male), ESSA (female), ISSO (neutral) = In English is THAT.

ESSES (male plural) and ESSAS (female plural) = is THOSE.

AQUELE (male), AQUELA (female), AQUILO (neutral) = also is THAT in Engish.

AQUELES (male plural) and AQUELAS (female plural) = is THOSE.

WHEN USE "ESTE"?

For peoples or objects: the person or the objects is close, very close to who speaks. Example:

I say: "Esta bolsa é cara." = "This bag is expensive." = I talk about a bag that is very close of me, probably even in my hands.

I say: "Este é meu pai." = "This is my father." = The person that I talk about is close of me, maybe he is in my side.

I say: "Isto é seu." = "This is your." = The thing is with me, close to me.

For places: It is about the place where who speaks is. Example:

I say: "Esta sala está limpa." = "This room is clean." = I am in the room, because that we use ESTA.

I say: "Este restaurante é bom." = "This restaurant is good." = I am in the restaurant, I am inside of it.

For time: It is about a situation that happens in the present or in the past which is not over.

I say: "Nesta semana eu escrevi muito." = "In this week, I have written too much." = The week is not finished yet and I still write.


WHEN USE "ESSE"?

For peoples, objects or places: we use "esse" when we speak about persons (or objects) who are far away from the speaker and close to those who listen.

I say: "Eu tenho uma camisa como essa." = "I have a shirt like that." = The shirt is with the listener.

I say: "That city where you are, is beautiful?" = "Essa cidade onde você está, é bonita?" = The listener is in the city, I am not.

For time: we use to talk about recent past or near future. Example:

I say: "Esses últimos dias foram muito difíceis." = "Those last days were very difficult." = Were recent days, not so long ago it happened.

I say: "Vou passar essas semanas estudando Inglês." = "I will pass those weeks studying English."



WHEN USE "AQUELE"?

For peoples, objects or places: we use "aquele" to talk about persons, objects or places that are far away from the speaker and far away from the listener.

I say: "Aquela floresta é perigosa." = "That forest is dangerous."

I say: "Aquele carro é rápido." = "That car is fast."

I say: "Aquelas meninas são modelos." = "Those girls are models."

For time: when we talk about the distant past. Example:

I say: "Aquela viagem ao Rio de Janeiro foi muito cara." = "That trip to Rio de Janeiro was very expensive."


RESUME:

ESTE => close to who speaks, place where speaker is or about time which is not over yet.

ESSE => close to who listen, place where listener is, about recent past or near future.

AQUELE => far way to who speaks and to who listen, about distant past.



For more informations about our the formal language, I recommend this site: Português.com   It is in portuguese, bu you can translate it.



Enough for today. Any questions use the space of comments. ^^

Bye, bye. o/