Demonstrative Determiners

Demonstrative Determiners

Demonstrative determiners are words used to indicate or point to specific nouns in a sentence. They help to show where a person or thing is located.

To determine which demonstrative pronoun to use, we must identify two things. First, whether the subject is singular or plural and second, whether the subject is near or far from us. In order to tell whether the subject is near or far, reach out your hand. If you can touch the object/person, that would be considered near. Otherwise, we would say that the object/person is far. Let me show you how demonstrative determiners work:

This: Use “this” to refer to a singular noun that is near to you.

For example, “This book that I am holding is interesting.”

As I am talking about one singular object – the book – and I am holding it which means it is near to me, we use ‘this’.

That: Use “that” to refer to a singular noun that is far from you.

For example, “That boy standing across the road is my friend.”

As I am talking about one singular person – the boy – and he is across the road which means he is far from me, we use ‘that’.

These: Use “these” to refer to plural nouns that are near to you.

For example, “These cookies that I am eating are delicious.”

As I am talking about many cookies and the cookies are in my mouth, which means the cookies are near to me, we use ‘these’.

Those: Use “those” to refer to plural nouns that are far from you.

For example, “Those houses over there are beautiful.”

As I am talking about many houses, and over there is used to refer to things/people that are far, we use ‘those’.

Now, let me share with you a fun way we can remember these demonstrative determiners! We will focus on the vowels in the demonstrative determiners.

‘This’ vs ‘That’

If we look at the vowels in ‘this’ and ‘that’, there is only one vowel found in each word, i.e. ‘i’ in ‘this’ and ‘a’ in that’. This means we will use ‘this’ and ‘that’ for a singular noun, since ‘singular’ refers to ‘one’ of something.

To remember when to use ‘this’ or ‘that’, look carefully at the letter ‘a’ in ‘that’. Don’t you think it looks like an eye that is opened wide? This is similar to how when we want to look at something far, we try to open our eyes wide to see it, so that is why ‘that’ is used for a singular object/person that is far away.

‘These’ vs ‘Those’

If we look at the vowels between ‘these’ and ‘those’, there are two vowels found in each word, which means that ‘these’ and ‘those’ are to be used for plural nouns, as plural nouns usually mean that there is more than one object/person.

In this instance, to remember when to use ‘these’ or ‘those’, take a look at the letter ‘o’ in ‘those’. Just like the ‘a’ in ‘that’, the letter ‘o’ appears to be like an eye that is wide open. Remember, we open our eyes big and wide to see something far away, hence ‘those’ is used to refer to plural subjects that are not near to us.

I hope that the tips I have shared in this video is helpful in aiding you to remember the difference between demonstrative determiners whenever you are confused. Till next time, take care!