Demonstrative Pronoun and Demonstrative Adjective, Definition and Example Sentences

Demonstrative Pronoun and Demonstrative Adjective, Definition and Example Sentences

Demonstrative Pronouns

In daily life, we use demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative adjectives to indicate a person, an object, or something. The demonstrative pronouns are “This, that, these, and those” and we make use of them.

This: These are the pronouns we use to show something singular that is near us.

That: Pronouns that we use to show something singular that is far away.

These: This is the plural form of the pronoun and they are the pronouns we use to show the plural things that are near us.

Those: That is the plural form of the pronoun and they are the pronouns we use to show the plural things that are far away.

Demonstrative Pronouns Examples

• My house is in this red building.
• Karen’s car is the blue sports car in the parking lot.
• If you want to graduate, you have to pass this exam.
• These jewelry items are quite expensive and ostentatious.
• That bracelet is my mother’s, and the wristwatch next to it is my aunt’s.
• This is a very good book, but we could write better.
• So you read Tolstoy’s book, I read that book too, but I couldn’t finish it.
• Those books are my old books, I plan to give them free to people who need them.
• This is my neighbor Richard, he is a very kind person.

Demonstrative Adjectives

In English, demonstrative adjectives are words used to indicate an object or something. These words are the singular “this” and “that” and their plural “these” and “those”. From these words, “this” and its plural “these” are used to indicate nearby objects, and “that” and “those” are used to indicate distant objects or to indicate them as demonstrative adjectives.

Some example sentences about Demonstrative Adjectives;

This great pizza is my favorite.

That big dog is mine.

Let’s examine the two examples given below to see the difference between demonstrative adjectives and demonstrative pronouns more clearly.

This is a very intelligent parrot. (The “this” you see in this sentence is the demonstrative pronoun.)

This is a very clever parrot… (The “this” in this sentence is an adjective and we can say that it is a demonstrative adjective because it comes before the noun.)

Use of Demonstrative Adjectives

While the verb “use” is used with a demonstrative adjective in a sentence, it can be used before or after the demonstrative adjective.

“Use” is used before “adjective + noun”.

You can use this empty bag.

As seen in the example sentence given above, the word “this” in the “this empty bag” part is a demonstrative adjective, and the verb “use” in the given example sentence was used before the adjective.

• They shouldn’t use that horrible idea.
• This red pen is for you to use.
• You can use the gaming PC I gave you.
• Applying such cream to your hands can cause an allergenic reaction.
• They should use these books while doing their homework.