Demonstrative Pronouns

For beginners

A demonstrative pronoun is a pronoun mostly used to point to something based on its distance from the speaker. In English, these pronouns have four forms.

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

demonstrative pronoun "this" in a sentence

Now, take a look at some examples:

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:

- 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:

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:

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

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What Are Demonstrative Pronouns?
English Demonstrative Pronouns
Singular Demonstrative Pronouns
Plural Demonstrative Pronouns

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