Demonstrative Pronouns ( This and That )

A demonstrative pronoun is one of four words used in the place of common nouns in a sentence. The singular words "this" and "that" and their plurals "these" and "those" are the demonstrative pronouns in English. These words are used to indicate a known object that is either near or far from the speaker or that exists in the present or past.

Pronouns are general words which stand in for certain nouns in a sentence. They often are used to refer to people, such as "she" and "who," or a thing, "it." Demonstrative pronouns are a small set of pronouns which also refer to things, but do so more specifically than the pronoun "it." Where "it" simply indicates some object or sexless animal, demonstrative pronouns will indicate whether that object is nearby or farther away.

The words "this" and "that" are the singular demonstrative pronouns. Using "this" indicates the object is present in the general area of the speaker. The word "that" indicates a specific object that is farther away, either out of arms reach or even out of sight. It may also indicate something that existed in the past. The word "these" is plural for "this" and "those" is plural for "that."



Use This when a person, place,animal and thing is near.
It is also use for one person, thing,animal and place.

                                                                     This is a monkey.

                                                      This is a fish.

                                                       This is a cat.

                                                      This is a cake.

Use That when a person, place,animal and thing is far.
It is also use for one person, thing, animal and place.









                  That is a baby.




                                      That is a butterfly.




                                  That is a book.





         That is a bird.