Demonstrative Adjectives

What are Demonstrative Adjectives?

As you might already know, adjectives are a part of speech that function as modifiers. They describe nouns and pronouns and can appear multiple times in a single sentence. There are many types of adjectives. Demonstrative adjectives are probably the most widely used adjectives in daily conversations. They emphasize the importance of nouns and pronouns in a sentence, identifying which object or person the speaker is talking about. The demonstrative adjectives that we often use are this, that, these, and those, along with ordinal numbers such as first, second, etc. These adjectives specify the location and number of their antecedents. Note that this, that, these, and those may change functions according to the words they modify. Read along to know more about them later in this article.

Below are demonstrative adjectives in sentences:

• We don’t have a lot of availability at this time.
• Can you hand me that book?
• These apples are the sweetest that I’ve ever tasted.
• Look at those kids having a fun time in the rain.
• We were walking on the beach when we found this shell.

Demonstrative Adjectives Rules

For your convenience, look at the table below to see the different forms and uses of the most common demonstrative adjectives:

Demonstrative Adjectives	For things that are near or current	For things that are farther away
Singular Forms	this	that
Plural Forms	these	those

 Below is a list of demonstrative adjective rules and their explanations.

Rules	Explanation/Examples
Location	This and These are used with nouns and pronouns that are nearby or current. – I want to purchase this cologne. – These chickens are free-range. That and Those are used with nouns and pronouns that are further away. – That man is visiting from out of town. – She didn’t want to spend time with those people.
Singular & Plural Nouns and Pronouns	This and That are used with singular nouns and pronouns. – Clay wants this day to be perfect. – We really don’t care about what that woman wants. These and Those are used with plural nouns and pronouns. – I feel blue these days. – We’re sorry but those women are banned from the restaurant.
Yon and Yonder	While these words aren’t common in contemporary or modern English anymore, you might come across them in classical or even modern literature. These words both refer to things that are far away and can be used with either singular or plural nouns.
Ordinal Numbers	Ordinal numbers can function as demonstrative adjectives when they indicate the location or position of the noun you are describing. For example: – Jin received his first paycheck from his new job. – It’s his fortieth birthday so we have to plan something really special.  – We are in the twenty-first century.

Examples of Demonstrative Adjectives

1. This table goes well with the furniture inside the nursery.

2. I remember Rissa having the same problem with those documents as well. 

3. What’s wrong with that boy over there? He looks about ready to faint.

4. We should go to that store because they have a bigger parking lot.

5. Isn’t this the fifth time that we denied his request for an interview?

6. Vera and her friends booked a week-long trip to Cagayan for her thirtieth birthday.

7. She was carrying these ancient-looking books with her the last time we saw each other.

8. Can you believe Omar wanted to paint the wooden fence with this shade of orange?

9. These stories about fairies are far-fetched but I wonder if there’s some truth to them.

10. Those chairs aren’t enough and I think we’re going to need a lot more at the venue.

Demonstrative Adjectives Exercises with Answers

Exercise on Demonstrative Adjectives

Identify the parts of speech of the words in bold in the following sentences:

1. I’m sure this problem will go away soon enough.

A. demonstrative adjective

B. demonstrative pronoun

C. adverb

D. conjunction

2. George’s visited the site that was mentioned in the paper.

A. demonstrative adjective

B. demonstrative pronoun

C. adverb

D. conjunction

3. Kian is looking for the toy car that we gave him for Christmas.

A. demonstrative adjective

B. demonstrative pronoun

C. adverb

D. conjunction

4. Everyone agrees that we don’t have time for this.

A. demonstrative adjective

B. demonstrative pronoun

C. adverb

D. conjunction

5. Eva’s team needs to confer to discuss these issues.

A. demonstrative adjective

B. demonstrative pronoun

C. adverb

D. conjunction

6. Yes, the sauce is that awful. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

A. demonstrative adjective

B. demonstrative pronoun

C. adverb

D. conjunction

7. That is not the reason we’re here.

A. demonstrative adjective

B. demonstrative pronoun

C. adverb

D. conjunction

8. This is the second time we’ve had to change vehicles.

A. demonstrative adjective

B. demonstrative pronoun

C. adverb

D. conjunction

9. Becky hadn’t expected the party to be that loud but she can’t do anything about it.

A. demonstrative adjective

B. demonstrative pronoun

C. adverb

D. conjunction

10. Are you sure Jimmu can still fit into those?

A. demonstrative adjective

B. demonstrative pronoun

C. adverb

D. conjunction

Answers

1. A: demonstrative adjective

2. D: conjunction

3. D: conjunction

4. B: demonstrative pronoun

5. A: demonstrative adjective

6. C: adverb

7. B: demonstrative pronoun

8. A: demonstrative adjective

9: C: adverb

10. B: demonstrative pronoun

Demonstrative Adjectives List

The number of demonstrative adjectives is small.

• this
• that
• these
• those
• yon
• yonder
• ordinal numbers (e.g. fifth, sixtieth, etc.)

Advice for ESL Students & English Language Learners

It’s important to remember the two main uses of demonstrative adjectives. The first is that they describe the physical location of subjects and objects relative to the speaker. The words this and these refer to things that are close by and that and those refer to things that are distant. The second use is describing moments in time. This and that refer to things that are recent; that and those are for moments that happened or will happen away from the current time. Let’s look at the following examples:

• This evening has been amazing! (Obviously, “this” indicates an evening in the present time.
• I remember that day clearly. (In this instance, “that” refers to a day that happened long before the present and possibly in the distant past.)
• These next two weeks are crucial to the success of our most recent project. (The word “these” talks about the two weeks that will take place after the moment of speaking.)
• I believe those years he spent in Asia changed him for the better. (In this example, “those” describes the years that occurred in the relative past.)

Another thing to keep in mind is that some English textbooks consider demonstrative adjectives as a separate group or grammatical concept, which they call called determiners. Some call them demonstratives or demonstrative determiners. Don’t be surprised if you come across those terms as they are essentially the same thing.

Additionally, it is important for learners to properly understand Indefinite Adjectives and Distributive Adjectives.

Common Errors Made by English Learners

Demonstrative adjectives can be confusing for English language learners because they look very similar at first glance. It also takes some time to nail down the difference in pronunciation between the words this and these, including how they’re pronounced individually. But the most common error comes from the words this, that, these, and those functioning as other parts of speech. These words can function as pronouns, adverbs, and conjunctions.

Common Errors	Explanation
this, that, these, and those as demonstrative pronouns	As pronouns, they can stand by themselves in sentences and function as either subjects or objects. As subjects: – This has been an awful day. – That was quite enlightening. – Those are her favorite toys. As objects: – Are you okay with that? – Out of everything, my favorite is this. – Just wait what he’ll do with these.
this, that, these, and those as adverbs	These words sometimes modify adjectives, which makes them adverbs. The adverbs are in bold and the adjectives are in italics in the following examples: – We didn’t know the tickets were that expensive. – Shane was this close to winning the gold. – They didn’t know he was that good at skating.
this, that, these, and those as conjunctions	The word “that” can be used to introduce clauses, which makes it a conjunction. – Hayden is wearing the coat that he bought yesterday. – She told me that she wasn’t going to the party. – The assistant manager is the position that Alexis applied for.

Learning Strategies and Best Practices with Demonstrative Adjectives

Here are some tips to ensure that you are using demonstrative adjectives properly:

• Identify whether or not the words that are modified are singular or plural nouns and pronouns.
• Remember that some demonstrative adjectives can function as different parts of speech and aren’t adjectives at all.
• Demonstrative adjectives don’t have comparative or superlative forms.

Here are the best learning strategies that can help master demonstrative adjectives:

Learning Strategies	Explanation
Language Lists	The most valuable and convenient self-study resources come in language lists, tables, and charts. Besides presenting every grammatical concept thoroughly, they make side-by-side comparison and information retention easy. They can also contain sample sentences, rules, and sentence structures. Find ones that provide a language framework with real-life contexts so that you can easily apply them to your own English language use.
Language Exposure	Besides lists, exposing your brain to English language media such as podcasts and online videos will help you improve faster. You will experience how native speakers use the English language in various contexts, topics, and areas of expertise, which in turn will strengthen your fluency by way of osmosis or mimicry.
Language Exchange	Talking is the only path to fluency. You can study a million books but remain at beginner levels if you don’t use the language. Or you could be an expert in grammar but find yourself unable to communicate in English. It’s important to apply your learnings to daily interactions with English-speaking friends and fellow English language learners. The effort is worth it. Soon, you’ll have the ability to speak naturally and use English with confidence and ease.

Demonstrative Adjectives Frequently Asked Questions