Notes on Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are words that point out specific people, places, or things. There are four demonstrative pronouns in English: this, that, these, and those. They are used to identify a noun or pronoun as being either close to the speaker or far from the speaker. In this lesson, we will take a closer look at demonstrative pronouns and provide some examples of how they can be used. We will also include a few exercises so you can practice using these pronouns yourself!

What are demonstrative pronouns?

Demonstrative pronouns are words like this, that, these, and those. They indicate which thing or things a speaker is talking about. For example:

This is a great book.

That looks like a fun party.

These are my favourite cookies.

Those are the best cookies I’ve ever had.

Demonstrative pronouns can be used to replace nouns. In the examples above, the demonstrative pronoun substitutes for the words “book,” “party,” “cookies,” and “cookies.”

What is the difference between demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative adjectives?

The demonstrative pronouns are “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those.” They are used to refer to specific things, people, or places. The demonstrative adjectives are “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those.” They are used to describe things, people, or places.

Here is an example of the use of demonstrative pronouns:

I need this book for my class.

In this sentence, “this” is used as a demonstrative pronoun to refer to the specific book that the speaker needs.

Here is an example of the use of demonstrative adjectives:

This book is for my class.

In this sentence, “this” is used as an adjective to describe the book. It is telling us which book is for the speaker’s class.

When to use demonstrative pronouns?

Demonstrative pronouns are used to talk about specific things. They are used when the speaker wants to be clear about which thing or things they are talking about. For example:

I can’t find my keys.

Which ones? These ones?

The demonstrative pronoun “these” is used to refer to the keys that are closest to the speaker.

Demonstrative pronouns can also be used to show distance. In English, we use the words “this” and “that” to talk about things that are close to us, and “these” and “those” to talk about things that are far away from us.

Types of Demonstrative Pronoun

There are four types of demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, and those. They indicate either distance or number.

This: close to the speaker

That: close to the hearer or object

These: near the speaker and hearer

Those: distant from both speakers.

Now let us see this demonstrative pronoun with examples.

Demonstrative pronouns examples:

Here are the demonstrative pronouns examples:

This: Used for things that are close to the speaker. For example, this book.

That: Used for things that are close to the listener. For example, that cat.

These: Used for things that are close to the speaker and the listener. For example, These cookies are for you.

Those: Used for things that are far from both the speaker and the listener. For example, those flowers.

Errors Occurred in Demonstrative pronouns

Usually, students make errors with demonstrative pronouns when they are used as adjectives. For example, in the sentence “This is a great book,” the word this is a demonstrative pronoun that is used as an adjective to describe the book. In the sentence “Those are my shoes,” the word those is a demonstrative pronoun that is used as an adjective to describe the shoes.

Remember: A demonstrative pronoun points out a specific person, place, or thing.

Conclusion

Demonstrative pronouns are an important part of the English language, and it is important to understand their usage. There are four demonstrative pronouns in English: this, that, these, and those. Each one has a specific meaning depending on the context in which it is used. Thank you for reading this post on demonstrative pronouns. You can see, there are a lot of different ways to use these pronouns.