Demonstrative adjectives in English

What are demonstrative adjectives?

Demonstrative adjectives are used to identify and point to people and things. Unlike demonstrative pronouns they do not replace the noun, merely emphasize which one the speaker is talking about and where the noun is located in time and space. 

Have a question?

Take online language lessons with a professional teacher

1. Native & verified teachers
2. Free trial lesson
3. Learning materials included

Stefaan L.

Bahar C.

Lisa M.

John M.

Morena G.

Francesca A.

Darya M.

Andjela D.

NANCY N.

Francesco D.

Sign up for free

Demonstrative adjectives list

Demonstrative adjectives list: this, that, these, those

Demonstrative adjectives examples

• Is this dog yours?
• These books are new. 
• I left that book in Paris.
• Where did you get those cables?
• This car here looks amazing, but I don't like that one over there.

Demonstrative adjectives vs demonstrative pronouns 

To identify whether the words this, these, that, and those are used as an adjective or a pronoun you need to identify their place in a sentence. If followed by a noun they are always adjectives, whereas in the absence of a noun they are used as pronouns. 

Examples

• This rope looks unstable. I don't think we should use it.
• This looks unstable. I don't think we should use it.