THE DEMONSTRATIVES
February 18th, 2010
No comments
THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE
1. Function
The demonstratives this, that, these, those ,show where an object or person is in relation to the speaker.
This (singular) and these (plural) refer to an object or person near the speaker. That (singular) and those (plural) refer to an object or person further away. It can be a physical closeness or distance as in:
- Who owns that house? (distant)
- Is this John’s house? (near)
Or it can be a psychological distance as in:
- That‘s nothing to do with me.. (distant)
- This is a nice surprise! (near)
2. Position
- Before the noun.
- Before the word ‘one’.
- Before an adjective + noun.
- Alone when the noun is ‘understood’.
Examples:
- This car looks cleaner than that one.
- This old world keeps turning round
- Do you remember that wonderful day in June?
- I’ll never forget this.
