48 Demonstrative Adjectives
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Introduction
Adjectives are determiners that can be placed in two different positions within a sentence to modify or describe a person or a thing.
Demonstrative adjectives are used to place objects in space and identify their position.
Form
Demonstrative adjectives come before nouns and introduce them. We don’t use articles and other determiners before demonstrative adjectives. They are:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Near | This | These |
| Far | That | Those |
Example
- Near
- This car belongs to my father (singular).
- These shoes are too big for me (plural).
- Far
- That boy is from Turkey (singular).
- Those boxes over there are very heavy (plural).
Use
Demonstrative adjectives are used to place objects in space and identify their position in relation to their distance from the speaker:
- Near: we use this (singular) and these (plural) for things and people that are near to the speaker (here).
- Far: we use that (singular) and those (plural) for things and people that are far (there).
NOTE: Demonstrative adjectives are actually determiners, but in dictionaries or grammar books they are usually referred to as adjectives.
Summary
Demonstrative adjectives are used before nouns, to express the position of an object in relation to its distance from the speaker:
- Near: for singular nouns this, for plural nouns these.
- Far: for singular nouns that, for plural nouns those.
For example:
— “This apple pie is delicious!” = The apple pie is near the speaker.
— “These apples are delicious!” = The apples are near the speaker.
— “That apple pie looks delicious!” = The apple pie is far from the speaker.
— “Those apples look delicious!” = The apples are far from the speaker.
Do not confuse demonstrative adjectives with demonstrative pronouns which replace a noun and let us avoid repetitions. They have the same forms, but they have different functions in a sentence.
For example:
— “This apple pie seems delicious!” = We use the demonstrative adjective this to show the distance of the apple pie and to introduce the noun.
♦ “This seems delicious!” = We use the pronoun this to show the distance of something and to avoid repeating the noun.
NOTE: We don’t use determiners before demonstrative adjectives, because they are already a kind of determiners.
Let’s revise this content within the {Form} section. Take a look at the {Example} section that shows its use within a context.
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