Pronouns : Demonstrative Pronouns
As with all pronouns, demonstrative pronouns replace nouns.
Demonstrative pronouns are used to replace nouns (people or objects) that have been previously mentioned to that the listener/reader can understand from the context of the conversation/text.
The demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these, and those.
A demonstrative pronoun used in context enables us to tell whether the noun it replaces is something singular or plural and whether that thing(s) is/are close at hand or at some distance.
This and that replace singular nouns.
This represents something close at hand:
- This is very pretty.
That represents something further away:
- That is massive!
These and those replace plural nouns.
These represents something close by:
- These look delicious.
Those represents something further away:
- Don’t buy those.
This, that, these, and those can also be Demonstrative Adjectives, which modify nouns or pronouns.
In this situation they cannot stand alone or replace a noun but rather indicate exactly which noun is being considered:
- This milk is out of date.
- That dog is in a sorry state.
- Those oranges are very juicy.
- These pencils all beed to be sharpened.