What is a demonstrative pronoun? A demonstrative pronoun is a word used to point to a particular person, place, animal, object, idea, concept, etc. Demonstrative pronouns are used in sentences to specify something of the same class and distinguish it from the others. The most common demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these and those. The best tip to identify a demonstrative pronoun is to see if the demonstrative pronoun refers to a previously mentioned noun. Demonstrative pronouns are contrasted with demonstrative adjectives.
What is a demonstrative pronoun?, how to identify a demonstrative pronoun?, how are demonstrative pronouns compared with demonstrative adjectives? are the frequent questions we've discussed in this post
Continue to read to learn demonstrative pronoun meaning, definition, types, rules and example sentences with clear explanation.
This article covers:
- Demonstrative Pronoun - Meaning and Definition
- Examples of Demonstrative Pronouns
- Types of Demonstrative Pronouns
- Demonstrative Pronoun and Demonstrative Adjective
- How to Use Demonstrative Pronouns
- FAQs - Demonstrative Pronoun
Demonstrative Pronoun - Meaning and Definition
What does a demonstrative pronoun mean? The word "demonstrative" in the phrase "demonstrative pronoun" means something such as some word that points to something else, while the word "pronoun" is a word that is used in place of a noun previously mentioned.
What is the definition of a demonstrative pronoun? A demonstrative pronoun is a word used to point to a particular person, animal, object, idea, concept, belief, etc.
Also read: possessive pronoun
Here are a few examples of demonstrative pronouns:
Examples of Demonstrative Pronouns
1. This is my pen.
2. That is your book.
3. These are our classmates.
4. Those are John's friends.
Explanation:
In example 1, the word "this" is a demonstrative pronoun used for the pen that is near me.
In example 2, the word "that" is a demonstrative pronoun used for the book that is distant from you.
In example 3, the word "these" is a demonstrative pronoun used for the classmates who are near us.
In example 4, the word "those" is a demonstrative pronoun used for John's friends who are distant from him.
Now remember that the person, animal, object pointed to can be near you or distant from you. Therefore, we put demonstrative pronouns in the following categories.
Types of Demonstrative Pronouns with Examples
Demonstrative pronouns can be classified on whether they are near or far and whether they are singular or plural. Therefore, we have the following four types of demonstrative pronouns.
1. Singular demonstrative pronoun for nearness: The singular demonstrative pronoun for something near is "this" which can be used to refer to a person, animal or object located nearby.
Examples:
a. This is my friend John.
b. Is this your dog?
c. This is my laptop.
2. Singular demonstrative pronoun for distance: The singular demonstrative pronoun for distance is "that" which is used to point to a person, animal or object located at a distant place.
Examples:
a. That is my book.
b. Is that your friend?
c. That is my laptop.
3. Plural demonstrative pronoun for nearness: The plural demonstrative pronoun for nearness is "these" which is used to refer to people, animals or objects located near.
Examples:
a. These are my friends.
b. These are your pens.
c. Are these his books?
4. Plural demonstrative pronoun for distance: The plural demonstrative pronoun for distance is "those" which is used to point to people, animals or objects located at a distant place.
Examples:
a. Those are my friends.
b. Those are your pens.
c. Are those your books?
You'll be immediately confused if you don't know the difference between demonstrative pronoun and demonstrative adjective. Therefore, we discuss below the difference between the two.
Demonstrative Pronoun and Demonstrative Adjective
The demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative adjectives are different in the sense that the demonstrative pronouns are used in place of nouns to refer to them, whereas the demonstrative adjectives are used before nouns to describe or modify them.
Examples of Demonstrative Pronouns
a. This is my pen.
b. That is your book.
c. These are my friends.
d. Those are your friends.
Examples of Demonstrative Adjectives
a. This pen is mine.
b. That book is yours.
c. These friends are mine.
d. Those friends are yours.
How to Use Demonstrative Pronouns?
Here are the two usage guidelines and rules for how to use demonstrative pronouns:
Rule 1: Use a singular demonstrative pronoun to refer to a single person, animal, object.
For examples:
a. This is my phone.
b. That is your laptop.
Rule 2: Use a plural demonstrative pronoun to refer to more than one person, place, animal or object.
For example:
a. These are my pens.
b. Those are your books.
FAQs - Demonstrative Pronoun
What is a demonstrative pronoun?
What is a demonstrative pronoun? A demonstrative pronoun is a word used to point to a particular person, animal, object, idea, concept, belief, etc. Demonstrative pronouns are used in sentences to specify something of the same class and distinguish it from the others. The most common demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these and those.
What are the 4 demonstrative pronouns?
The demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these and those. "This" is used for some single person, place, animal or object located near. "That" is used for some single person, place, animal or object located at a distant place. "These" is used for people, places, animals or objects located near. "Those" is used for people, places, animals or objects located at a distant place.
10 Demonstrative pronoun sentences
1. This is my pen.
2. This is my laptop.
3. That is your book.
4. These are my friends.
5. These are your classmates.
6. Those are your friends.
7. Those are your books.
8. These are animals.
9. These are my roommates.
10. Those are his supporters.
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