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When speaking or writing, you’ll often need to point to a specific person, place, thing, or idea. That’s where demonstrative adjectives—this, that, these, and those—come in! They help you show exactly which person, place, thing, or idea you mean.

With four different forms to pick from, you might feel unsure about which one to use. Fortunately, this guide breaks it all down, so you can choose the right demonstrative adjective with confidence!

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What are demonstrative adjectives in English?

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Demonstrative adjectives, also called demonstrative determiners, are adjectives that give information about the relative distance of a noun in time or location.

In English, there are four demonstrative adjectives:

  • this
  • that
  • these
  • those

How to use this, that, these, and those

Demonstrative adjectives always appear before the noun they’re referring to. However, they can be a little tricky because they change based on two factors: the noun’s distance and whether it’s a singular or plural noun.

1) Distance of the noun in time or space

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Use this and these for nouns that are close, and that and those for nouns that are far.

For example:

DISTANCE NUMBER
SINGULAR PLURAL
CLOSE This coat is too small! These trees are beautiful.
FAR That coat is too small! Those trees are beautiful.

2) Number (singular or plural)

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Use this and that for singular nouns, and these and those for plural nouns.
NUMBER DISTANCE
CLOSE FAR
SINGULAR You can sit in this chair. Is she in that class too?
PLURAL You can sit in these chairs. Is she in those classes too?

Putting these two factors—distance and number—together, each demonstrative adjective has a specific use case:

Infographic titled "English demonstrative adjectives" showing a three-column table with the headings "Demonstrative adjective," "Describes a noun that is…," and "Example." It explains four English demonstrative adjectives: “this” (singular + close), illustrated by the sentence “This penguin is hungry.” and an illustration of one penguin standing near Duo the owl; “that” (singular + far), illustrated by the sentence “That penguin is hungry.” and one penguin farther away from Duo the owl; “these” (plural + close), illustrated by the sentence “These penguins are hungry.” and three penguins near Duo; “those” (plural and far), illustrated by the sentence “Those penguins are hungry.” and three penguins farther away from Duo.

How do I know if a noun is considered “close”?

Don’t worry, you don’t need to pull out a yardstick to know which demonstrative adjective to use! See the examples below to understand when to use close demonstrative adjectives (this, these) and when to use far demonstrative adjectives (that, those):

YOU SAY… I love this shirt! I love that shirt!
IF… you’re holding or wearing the shirt you are talking about someone else’s shirt
YOU SAY… This evening was amazing! That evening was amazing!
IF… you are talking about today you are talking about an evening in the past
YOU SAY… Please put this blanket on the bed. Please put that blanket on the bed.
IF… you are holding the blanket the other person is holding the blanket
YOU SAY… Junior went to school this morning. Junior went to school that morning.
IF… you are talking about today you are talking about a day in the past
YOU SAY… These cookies are delicious. Those cookies were delicious.
IF… you are eating the cookies now you already ate the cookies
YOU SAY… Do you know these kids over here? Do you know those kids over there?
IF… the kids are playing close to you the kids are playing further away from you

Advanced English: other uses of demonstrative adjectives

In conversational English, demonstrative adjectives can also be used to highlight information or put emphasis on the noun.


For example, this and these can be used to introduce a new topic. If you’re telling a friend a story about a person you met, you might say So I met this guy at the bookstore yesterday—even if the guy isn’t close to you in time or space. It lets the listener know to pay attention because the guy is going to be the topic of this story!


Similarly, you can use that to refer to a shared memory you have with your friend. If you ask them Remember that guy I met at the bookstore last week?, you’re showing that you have previously talked about the guy in question.


Another way to use this and that is for contrast. You might point at some sweaters in a store and say I don’t like this sweater, but I like that one—even if both of them are right in front of you! In this case, the demonstrative adjectives are helping you make a distinction between the two sweaters.

Demonstrative adjectives vs. demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative adjectives always come before a noun. However, you will sometimes see the words this, that, these, and those not followed by a noun. When they are used this way, these words are called demonstrative pronouns. Demonstrative pronouns change for distance and number in the same way as demonstrative adjectives. Compare the use of this, that, these, and those as demonstrative pronouns vs. demonstrative adjectives:

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN EXAMPLE DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVE EXAMPLE
This is my grandma, Lucy. This lady is my grandma.
That is a great idea! That idea is great!
I love these! I love these cookies!
Those are too small. Those shoes are too small.
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You’ve learned a lot about these adjectives!

Demonstrative adjectives can be very useful for making it clear exactly which thing (or things!) you’re talking about. And while you might feel a little unsure at first whether you should use this demonstrative adjective or, well, that one, with a little bit of practice, you’ll be a demonstrative adjective expert in no time!

To learn more about adjectives, check out all of Duolingo's adjective guides:

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