What are Demonstratives for in Grammar?
There are four demonstratives we can use in English Grammar:
This, That, These, and Those.
- This is – a singular object near the speaker.
- These – are plural objects that are further from the speaker.
- That – singular object near the speaker.
- Those – are plural objects further from the speaker.
You need to use the correct form of the verb for singular or plural: “what is” or “what are.” Demonstrative pronouns refer to objects and animals, which are the subject of the sentence, but not people, unlike other kinds of pronouns. We have personal pronouns for this.
They can help to tell us if a person or object is singular, plural, near, or far away. These demonstrative pronouns replace the nouns – the names of what we are talking about. These are determiners along with definite and indefinite articles, quantifiers, interrogative and possessive determiners. They help clarify what we are referring to.
A pronoun and a determiner are both words used in most languages. It would help if you learned about demonstrative pronouns in English, whether it’s your first or an additional language (EAL/ESL), and when studying the grammar of foreign languages. It’s helpful to include some examples in your demonstrative pronouns lesson plan.
