This, That, These and Those

This, That, These and Those- Demonstratives

This, that, these and those are demonstratives.

Table of Contents

We use these demonstratives to tell the distance between speaker and noun.

‘This’ and ‘that’ are used to point the singular number and ‘these’ and ‘those’ are used to point plural number.

We use this and these to tell about something near to the speaker and that and those to tell about something far from the speaker.

We use demonstratives as:

Demonstrative-

Pronouns
Adjectives

Demonstrative Pronouns

We use this, that, these and those as demonstrative pronouns.

These demonstrative pronouns stand on their own.

We use ‘this’ for a singular noun and ‘these’ for a plural noun to tell about something which is nearby to the speaker.

Here are some examples-

This is my house.
This my child.
This is a great time.
Look at this notebook.
Is this your pen?
These are my pens.
These are my children.
Look at these pictures.
Watch these activities.

We use ‘that’ for a singular noun and ‘those’ for a plural noun to tell about something which is far from speaker.

Here are some examples–

That is my house.
That is his bag.
Observe that with concentration.
That was a great time.
Is that your bag?
Those are their papers.

Demonstrative Adjectives

We can use these as demonstrative adjectives also.

Demonstrative adjectives ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these’, ‘those’ denote particular person or thing.

Demonstrative adjectives are used with nouns.

We use ‘this’ for a singular noun and ‘these’ for a plural noun to tell about something which is nearby to the speaker.

This boy is very smart.
This table is made of wood.
These chairs have a matching coloured table.
These belts are with clips.

We use ‘that’ for a singular noun and ‘those’ for a plural noun to tell about something which is far from speaker.

Here are some examples–

Put on that shirt.
Show me that curtain.
That guy works in the municipality office.
Those children are playing on the ground.

Difference between demonstrative pronoun and demonstrative adjective

The same words ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these’, ‘those’ are used as demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative adjectives.

The best way to know the difference is- demonstrative pronouns are used before verbs and demonstrative adjectives are always used before a noun.

Examples-

This is special. (Demonstrative Pronoun+ Verb)
This book is special.(Demonstrative Adjective+ Noun)
These are new.
These things are new.
That is black.
That cloth is black.
Those were awesome.
Those clothes were awesome.

You can get more information about demonstratives in the chapter

Demonstrative Adjectives.