They can also be used figuratively to describe an idea or concept instead of an actual thing with distance. That was a nightmare!īe careful, because demonstrative pronouns aren’t always used literally. That and those represent something physically farther away or that happened longer ago. The near demonstrative pronouns this and these can refer to something close to the speaker or something that happened or was mentioned recently. That is mine.ĭon’t touch the chocolate cookies. If the antecedent is multiple things, use the plural demonstrative pronouns these or those.ĭon’t touch the chocolate cupcake.

If the antecedent is one thing, use the singular demonstrative pronouns this or that. Singular/plural refers to the number of the antecedent. The four demonstrative pronouns are divided into two categories: singular/plural and near/far.

When writing, you have to use the right type of demonstrative pronoun. The thing a pronoun represents is called the antecedent in the demonstrative pronoun example above, the antecedent is the red jacket. However, the speaker must make it clear what they are talking about when they don’t, demonstrative pronouns become confusing. Like all pronouns, demonstrative pronouns can refer to anything. The speaker is really saying, “I want the red jacket.”

In the demonstrative (pronounced deh-mon-struh-tiv) pronoun example above, the word that represents the red jacket mentioned earlier. The demonstrative pronouns this, that, these, and those are used to represent an already mentioned or implied word or phrase, helping make communication faster and easier. Grammarly helps you communicate confidently Write with Grammarly What is a demonstrative pronoun?

What is the pronoun