Articles & Demonstratives

	Masc. Singular	Fem. Singular			Masc. Plural	Fem. Plural
the	el  (ail)	la  (lah)		the	los  (lohs)	las  (lahs)
a, an	un  (oon)	una  (oon-ah)		some	unos  (oon-ohs)	unas  (oon-ahs)
this	este	esta		these	estos	estas
that	ese	esa		those	esos	esas
that	aquel	aquella		those	aquellos	aquellas

El is also used with feminine nouns beginning with a or ha when the accent is on the first syllable.  Words that end in -o and -or are generally masculine, with a few exceptions: la mano (hand), la foto (photo). Words that end in -a are generally feminine, with a few exceptions: el mapa (map), el problema (problem). Other feminine words end in -ción, -tad, -dad, or -tud.
Use the ese forms to mean that when what you are talking about is near the person you are addressing.  Use the aquel forms when what you are talking about is far from both you and the person you are addressing.  Esto and eso are the neuter forms of this and that.  They can be used in general and abstract ways. Demonstrative adjectives (listed above) are used before a noun; if you want to use the demonstrative pronouns, which are used before a verb, add an accent on all of the first e's: éste, ésta, éstos, éstas, ése, ésa, ésos, ésas, aquél, aquélla, aquéllos, aquéllas.

MASCULINE FEMININE el niño the boy la niña the girl los niños the boys or the boys and girls las niñas the girls nosotros we (all male) or we (male and female) nosotras we (all female) el vicepresidente la vicepresidente un artista an artist una artista an artist el cuerpo the body (always masculine, even if the body is not) una persona a person (always feminine, even if the person is not) la naturaleza nature la canción the song la humanidad humanity, mankind la libertad liberty la juventud youth, young people NOTABLE EXCEPTIONS: la mano (the hand), el día (the day), el problema, el programa, el planeta