Using Spanish demonstrative adjectives to refer to time (present, past and future)

Spanish demonstrative adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives are usually used as spatial references, but they can also be used to establish temporal references in order to refer to the present, the past and the future.

Este/esta/estos/estas

In the first example above, esta refers to present time (esta semana, i.e the current week) while in the second example, estos refers to a near future (estos meses, i.e the upcoming months). When used with El Presente sometimes it's difficult to know without a bit more context whether it is referring to the present or the future. For example:

Here, the speaker could be referring to the current month which they are still in, or they could be referring to this "coming" month. Remember that one use of El Presente is to refer to future events. See Using the present tense in Spanish in order to refer to a future action (only future time indications)

Ese/esa/esos/esas

In the first and second examples above, ese día refers to a past event while in the third example ese día refers to a future event.

Aquel/aquella/aquellos/aquellas

We can only use aquel, aquella, aquellos and aquellas to refer to a past event. Very often this use indicates an element of nostalgia. We do not use it to refer to present or future events.

In the examples above, aquel / aquella / aquellos / aquellas refer to a past event that is further away in the time in the speaker's mind compared to ese/esa/esos/esas.

Have a look at these two examples to see the difference:

In the first sentence, the speaker feels "closer" in time to the journey while in the second sentence the speaker sees it as a more "far away" idea, yet they are both referring to the same journey. So, using ese or aquel is sometimes subjective.

See also Adjetivo demostrativo.