Saturday, March 24, 2012

Demonstratives: This, That, These, Those

What are demonstratives?  

This, That, These, Those are demonstratives. They are used to show the distance of an object or objects from the speaker. They can be used as pronouns or adjectives. When a demonstrative is used as an adjective, it modifies the noun. 

When do we use This, That, These, Those?

This -  if the noun is singular and is close to the speaker.
That - if the noun is singular and is far from the speaker.
These - if the noun is plural and is close to the speaker.
Those - if the noun is plural and is far from the speaker.

Try these exercises:

 ________ is a balloon.


 _________ are balloons.

 ______________ is a book.

___________ are books.

 ___________ is a hill.

 ___________ is a building.

 _________ are tomatoes.

_____________ are birds.


ANSWERS:

This is a balloon.


 These are balloons.

 This is a book.

These are books.

That is a hill.

That is a building.

Those are tomatoes.

Those are birds.