Demonstrative Pronouns

What Are Demonstrative Pronouns?

Demonstrative pronouns are those pronouns that take the place of nouns or noun clauses in any sentence to refer to something less specified. They are used to refer to any kind of name, place, animal, or thing.

Some of the examples of demonstrative pronouns are :

this

that

these

those

none

such

neither

Demonstrative pronouns demonstrate name, place, animal, things and in some cases, they describe a person.

For Example :

That is Ritu standing with me.

In this sentence that is a demonstrative pronoun describing Ritu, a person.

Major Demonstrative Pronouns

Mostly, used demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these, and those.

The word demonstrate means to depict something in a singular or plural manner that is far off or near to the thing.

USE OF THIS

Singular: Near off

USE OF THAT

Singular: Far off

USE OF THESE

Plural: Near off

USE OF THOSE

Plural: Far off

Let’s take some examples to understand more clearly :

1. These are my flowers.

-PLURAL, NOT NEAR

2. That was so amazing.

-SINGULAR, FAR AWAY THING

You cannot replace this with these or that with those without checking the context as they mean different numbers. They should be carefully used to mean different distances as well.

In some cases, that is used as linkers to refer to the noun.

For Example :

I have seen that lady in the park.

In this situation, the noun ‘the lady’ is placed after the pronoun that identifies it as a demonstrative pronoun.

Similarly, major demonstrative pronouns in a few sentences are marked without the noun. In such a sentence the pronoun refers to some specific information.

For Example :

This is just horrible.

In this example, a demonstrative pronoun is being used without a supportive noun.

Comparing Demonstrative Pronouns With Adjectives And Determiners

In some sentences, demonstrative pronouns are used as demonstrative adjectives or determiners which makes it difficult to identify the correct demonstrative pronoun in a sentence. The demonstrative pronouns this, that, these, and those often resemble the demonstrative adjectives.

Demonstrative Adjectives need the support of the noun and cannot be used without a noun in the sentence whereas demonstrative pronouns sometimes do not require the support of a noun.

Let’s take some examples to understand it more easily :

She wants to paint this.

She wants to paint this picture.

In the above sentences, in the first one, this is used without the support of a noun which means it is a demonstrative pronoun while in another after this picture a noun is in support which means it is a demonstrative adjective.

‘None’ is used as a demonstrative pronoun which cannot be marked as a demonstrative adjective and cannot take its character in the sentence.

•  “I love none.” (correct)
• “I love none pizzas.” (incorrect)

Demonstratives in some sentences act as determiners or in some as a pronoun and it becomes difficult to identify and often we make mistakes in this. A pronoun is a noun that is used in place of a noun whereas a determiner is a word that is used before any noun in the sentence.

For Example :

This task is giving me a lot of trouble.

In this sentence, this is used and it targets the noun in spite of replacing it and thus this is used as a demonstrative determiner.

Conclusion

Demonstrative pronouns are those which point to any name, place, thing or place in a sentence. The four major demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these, and those. They are used in any sentence based on whether a sentence is in singular or plural form. If you are thorough with the rules then you can easily identify the demonstrative pronouns and not confuse it with a demonstrative adjective.