Demonstrative Pronouns

demonstrate (verb): to show; to indicate; to point to A demonstrative pronoun represents a thing or things:

near in distance or time (this, these) far in distance or time (that, those) near far that

Singular this Plural

these those

Here are some examples with demonstrative pronouns, followed by an illustration:

This tastes good. Have you seen this? These are bad times. Do you like these? That is beautiful. Look at that! Those were the days! Can you see those? This is heavier than that. These are bigger than those.

Normally we use demonstrative pronouns for things only. But we can use them for people when the person is identified. Look at these examples:

This is Josef speaking. Is that Mary? That sounds like John.

This; that; these; those; none and neither are Demonstrative Pronouns that substitute nouns when the nouns they replace can be understood from the context. They also indicate whether they are replacing singular or plural words and give the location of the object:

EXAMPLES OF DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS: This: singular and near the speaker That: singular and at a distance from the speaker These: plural and near the speaker Those: plural and at a distance from the speaker