Demonstrative Pronouns For beginners

Learn about Demonstrative Pronouns for beginners with easy explanations, examples, and exercises.

Demonstrative Pronouns in English Grammar

What Are Demonstrative Pronouns?

Demonstrative pronouns are pronouns that help the speaker show how near or far something or someone is.

English Demonstrative Pronouns

The English language has four demonstrative pronouns. Look at the table below:

Singular

Plural

Near

This

These

Far

That

Those

Singular Demonstrative Pronouns

'This' and 'that' are used to point at one thing or person.

To talk about a thing/person close to the speaker, this is used

To talk about a thing/person far from the speaker, that is used

ThumbnailPhoto

Now, take a look at some examples:

Example

This is a pen.

That is an umbrella.

Tip!

When giving a short answer to a question about demonstrative pronouns 'this' and 'that,' the subject pronoun 'it' is used in the answer. For example:

Example

- What is this? + It is a backpack.

- Is this your book? + Yes it is.

Plural Demonstrative Pronouns

'These' and 'those' are used to point at several things or people.

To talk about things/people close to the speaker, these is used

To talk about things/people far from the speaker, those is used

Now, take a look at some examples:

Example

These are keys.

Those are bags.

Tip!

When giving a short answer to a question about demonstrative pronouns 'these' and 'those,' the subject pronoun 'they' is used in the answer. For example:

Example

- Are these English books? + No, they are not.

Quiz:


1.

Which sentence correctly uses the demonstrative pronoun "that"?

A

That are shoes.

B

That is a car.

C

That is my books.

2.

Which sentence correctly uses a demonstrative pronoun to show one thing near the speaker?

A

That is a chair.

B

Those are pencils.

C

This is an apple.

D

These are books.

3.

Complete the table.

PronounDistanceNumber

this

near

that

singular

near

plural

those

far

these
singular
far
plural
those
near
4.

Fill in the blanks with the correct demonstrative pronoun.

are my friends standing over there.

is my car; you can use it.

I have a few pens here in my bag.

are new.

this
these
those
that
5.

Choose the correct response to the question: "Are those your keys?"

A

Yes, it is.

B

No, they are not.

C

Yes, these are.

D

No, this isn't.

Comments

(0)
Loading Recaptcha...
Share on :
books
Learn English VocabularyStart learning categorized English vocabulary on Langeek.
Click to start

Recommended

Subject Pronouns

bookmark
Pronouns that are used in the position of a subject in sentences are called subject pronouns. In this article, you find all your answers about subject pronouns.

Object Pronouns

bookmark
Pronouns that can take the place of an object are called object pronouns. In this article, you will get to know different kinds of object pronouns.

Reflexive Pronouns

bookmark
Reflexive Pronouns are used to show that the subject and object of a sentence are exactly the same person or thing or there is a direct connection between them.

Emphatic Pronouns

bookmark
'Emphatic pronouns' are used to refer to a noun or a pronoun mentioned earlier. So they give more detailed information.

Interrogative Pronouns

bookmark
There are five interrogative pronouns in English. Each is used to ask a specific question. In this lesson, we will learn more about these pronouns.

Possessive Pronouns

bookmark
Possessive pronouns show ownership and indicate that something belongs to someone particular. With their help, we can make a possessive phrase shorter.
LanGeek
Download LanGeek app