acesta

Acesta is a Romanian demonstrative word that functions as a pronoun and as a determiner, meaning “this one” or simply “this.” It is used to indicate a referent that is near the speaker or to contrast it with other possible referents. In standard Romanian the demonstrative system provides distinct forms for gender and number, and it has parallel determiner forms used before nouns.

As pronouns, the core forms are: masculine singular – acesta; feminine singular – aceasta; masculine plural – aceștia; feminine plural – acestea. As determiners placed before a noun, the corresponding forms are: masculine singular – acest; feminine singular – această; masculine plural – acești; feminine plural – aceste. These forms enable phrases such as “Acesta este un exemplu” (This is an example), “Aceasta este o problemă” (This is a problem), “Aceștia sunt studenții mei” (These are my students), and “Acestea sunt ideile mele” (These are my ideas).

Usage notes include that acest/această/acești/aceste are used to mark items close to the speaker, while related forms such as acela/aceea refer to more distant items. The pronoun forms (acesta, aceasta, aceștia, acestea) often appear after a linking verb, whereas the determiner forms precede the noun. In colloquial Romanian, a reduced form like ăsta is common in informal speech.