Demonstratives - This, that, these, those

What are demonstratives?

Demonstratives are words that show which person or thing is being referred to. In the sentence:

'This is my brother',

'this' is a demonstrative
The demonstratives in English are this, that, these, and those

Demonstrative pronouns vs demonstrative adjectives

A distinction must be made between demonstrative adjectives (or demonstrative determiners) and demonstrative pronouns (or independent demonstratives).
A demonstrative adjective modifies a noun:

This apple is good. I like those houses. (This modifies 'apple' and those modifies 'houses')

A demonstrative pronoun stands on its own, replacing rather than modifying a noun:

This is good. I like those. (This and those don't modify any nouns they stand alone and replace other nouns)

Use of demonstratives

Demonstratives differ according to:

• distance: near or far,
• or number: singular or plural.

Here are the main distinctions:

• This modifies or refers to singular nouns that are near to the speaker.
• That modifies or refers to singular nouns that are far from the speaker.
• These modifies or refers to plural nouns that are near to the speaker.
• Those modifies or refers to plural nouns that are far from the speaker.

Demonstratives	Singular	Plural	Near	Far
This		-		-
That		-	-
These	-			-
Those	-		-