This and that

In English we have two pronouns with which to designate a noun (sometimes joined with an adjective): "this" and "that", e.g., this large book and that crazy man.

The Spanish have three: "este" (this one close by), "ese" (that one over there), and "aquel" (that one far away).

But the French have only one: "ce." To distinguish between distance, they say "ce (whatever) ci", this (whatever) close by and "ce (whatever) la", that (whatever) over there, "over there" being almost any distance from a few feet to thousands of miles).

The above Spanish and French examples are just applicable to a single masculine noun. The variations are shown below.

Since English doesn't have gender for nouns, "this" and "that" can apply to any single noun. Of course, we do have "these" and "those" for plural nouns. That's it, no further variations.

Ah, but in Spanish and French there are numerous variations:

If the Spanish single noun is feminine, it's "esta", "esa", and "aquella". If it's plural, it's "estas", "esas", and "aquellas". If it's a plural masculine noun, it's "estos", "esos", and "aquellos". Also, the Spanish have a word for "this" and "that" in a very general sense: "esto" (¿Qué es esto?) What is this?; plural it's "estos" (¿A quien pertenecen estos?) To whom do they belong?

If the noun in French is feminine (and also singular), then the "ce" becomes "cette" (cette table ci, this table here, cette voiture la, that car over there). Also, even when a noun is masculine, but begins with a vowel (including the letter "h", which is mute except when preceded by "c"), the "ce" becomes "cet": cet outil ci, this tool here, cet homme la, that man over there). All plurals, masculine and feminine, are "ces": ces livres ci, these books here (livre is masculine), ces lunettes la, those eyeglasses there (lunettes is feminine).

Also, the French have pronouns when the noun is omitted because it has already been specified: ceci or celui-ci this one here (for a single masculine noun), celle-ci, this one here (for a single feminine noun). For plurals, it's ceux-ci and celles-ci (or ceux-la and celles-la respectively).