Demonstrative Pronouns in English: List, Examples, and Rules

Demonstrative pronouns point to or identify particular people, things, or ideas without naming them directly. The four main demonstrative pronouns in English are this, that, these, and those.

Imagine a designer examining three fabric samples. She places two beside her and leaves the third on a shelf across the room.

These would work well for the new collection, but that is too expensive.

These refers to the two samples beside her, while that identifies the single sample farther away.

Demonstrative pronouns also refer to decisions, events, previous statements, and ideas. Their meaning depends on what the speaker or writer is drawing attention to.

Demonstrative Pronouns List

The four demonstrative pronouns distinguish singular and plural reference. They can also indicate whether something is relatively near or distant.

The basic pattern is straightforward:

• This refers to one relatively near thing.
• That refers to one relatively distant thing.
• These refers to several relatively near things.
• Those refers to several relatively distant things.

For example, a technician holding a damaged component might say:

This needs replacing.

If the technician points toward several components on the opposite side of the workshop:

Those need replacing too.

Distance is understood from the speaker’s perspective. Something near the listener may still be described as that or those by someone farther away.

The same forms also appear when no physical distance is involved.

Demonstrative Pronouns vs. Demonstrative Determiners

The words this, that, these, and those can function as pronouns or determiners.

A demonstrative pronoun stands independently. A demonstrative determiner appears within a noun phrase to identify a noun.

Compare:

This proposal reduces the installation cost.

This reduces the installation cost.

In the first sentence, this is a demonstrative determiner used with proposal.

In the second, this stands independently and refers to a proposal or approach already understood from the context.

Another comparison:

Those photographs were taken before the restoration.

Those were taken before the restoration.

Both sentences refer to photographs, but only the first explicitly includes the noun.

Traditional grammar often calls the determiner forms demonstrative adjectives. Modern grammar generally calls them demonstrative determiners.

Not Every That Is a Demonstrative Pronoun

The word that also has other grammatical functions.

In the first sentence, that independently refers to something already understood.

In the second, it identifies the noun decision.

In the third, it introduces a relative clause describing the decision. Traditional grammar commonly classifies this use as a relative pronoun.

In the fourth, that introduces what the manager confirmed.

The spelling alone cannot tell you the word’s grammatical function.

How Demonstrative Pronouns Work in Sentences

Demonstrative pronouns can serve as subjects, objects, or complements.

As subjects:

These contain the original measurements from the survey.

These is the subject of contain. The context identifies the records or files being discussed.

As objects:

The contractor suggested using plastic cladding instead of stone. The architect rejected that immediately.

That is the object of rejected. It refers to the suggestion to use plastic cladding.

After a linking verb:

The main concern is this: the new entrance may not meet accessibility requirements.

This introduces the concern explained after the colon.

In each example, the demonstrative stands independently rather than identifying a following noun.

Singular and Plural Agreement

When a demonstrative pronoun is the subject, the verb normally agrees with its number.

Compare:

This is the version approved by the client.

These are the versions approved by the client.

And:

That requires further investigation.

Those require further investigation.

This and that are singular. These and those are plural.

The singular forms can also refer to uncountable things or an entire situation.

The supplier sent a new coating for the exterior walls. Is this suitable for coastal conditions?

This refers to the coating.

Several deliveries arrived late. This disrupted the construction schedule.

Here, this refers to the overall situation of the delayed deliveries, not to one delivery.

Demonstrative Pronouns Beyond Physical Distance

Demonstrative pronouns do more than identify where something is. They also help speakers discuss time, respond to ideas, express attitudes, and identify people.

Referring to Time

This often draws attention to something current, recent, or immediately relevant.

The previous inspection revealed no damage. This is the first to identify structural concerns.

This refers to the current inspection.

That often points back to an earlier event or situation.

The company introduced a new policy in 2018. That changed how employee records were handled.

That refers to the policy change.

These associations are contextual rather than fixed rules. A speaker may use this to discuss a distant historical event if it is the focus of the current discussion.

Referring to Statements and Ideas

Demonstrative pronouns are common in conversations because speakers can refer to an entire suggestion without repeating it.

Consider this exchange:

We could divide the presentation into shorter sessions.

That might work better for the audience.

That refers to the suggested approach.

A speaker may also use this to introduce information that follows:

This is what concerns me: nobody has checked whether the revised figures are accurate.

Here, this directs attention forward to the explanation.

Neither form is limited to one direction of reference. The choice depends on how the speaker presents the idea.

Expressing Attitude

Demonstratives can sometimes suggest how closely a speaker identifies with something.

I’ve spent six months developing this.

The speaker presents the work as something closely connected to their current attention.

I never want to go through that again.

That refers to an earlier experience the speaker is looking back on.

However, this does not automatically mean approval, and that does not automatically mean disapproval.

Both of these sentences are natural:

That’s wonderful news.

This is unacceptable.

The speaker’s attitude comes from the whole statement and situation, not from the demonstrative alone.

Identifying People

Demonstrative pronouns can introduce or identify people.

This is Dr. Mehta, who will lead the research team.

This introduces someone to the listener.

Is that the consultant we met during the conference?

That identifies a person the speaker is trying to recognize.

Similar expressions appear in telephone conversations:

Hello, this is Daniel from the admissions office.

Is that Priya speaking?

The second form is especially familiar in British English telephone usage. Other forms, such as Is this Priya?, are also used.

Once a person has been identified, ordinary personal pronouns such as he, she, or they are generally more natural for referring to them throughout a conversation.

When That and Those Replace Repeated Nouns

In formal comparisons, that and those can substitute for a previously mentioned noun phrase.

Consider:

The population of the northern district is larger than that of the southern district.

Here, that means the population.

The sentence could also be written as:

The population of the northern district is larger than the population of the southern district.

The shorter version avoids repeating the noun phrase.

For a plural comparison:

The findings from the first survey were similar to those from the follow-up study.

Those represents the findings.

This type of substitution is particularly common in academic and formal writing.

The reference still needs to be clear. If several possible noun phrases appear in the sentence, repeating the intended noun may be easier for the reader to follow.

How to Make Demonstrative References Clear

One of the most useful features of demonstrative pronouns is their ability to refer to an entire event or situation.

The difficulty is that a sentence may contain more than one possible reference.

It vs. This vs. That

Compare:

The scanner stopped working during the final checks. It needs repair.

The scanner stopped working during the final checks. This delayed the inspection.

The scanner stopped working during the final checks. That was unexpected.

These sentences discuss the same incident, but their pronouns direct attention differently.

It continues referring to the scanner.

This and that refer to the breakdown or situation.

This is not an absolute rule. All three can refer to previously mentioned things, and this or that may refer to a particular object when the context supports that meaning.

The important question is what the pronoun refers to in the sentence.

When the Reference Is Unclear

Consider:

The project team introduced a new reporting system but postponed staff training. This caused repeated errors.

What caused the errors?

The system might have been defective, or the team might have made mistakes because training was postponed.

The sentence does not establish which explanation is intended.

If the lack of training caused the errors:

The project team introduced a new reporting system but postponed staff training. The lack of training caused repeated errors.

If the system itself was defective:

The project team introduced a new reporting system, but defects in the software caused repeated errors. Staff training was also postponed.

Both revisions are clear, but they communicate different causes.

Simply replacing this with that would not resolve the uncertainty. The intended meaning needs to be stated.

When Adding a Noun Helps

Sometimes a reference is understandable but can be made more precise.

Compare:

The team discovered that the original measurements were inaccurate. This required another inspection.

The meaning is reasonably clear. Still, the writer can identify the cause more explicitly:

The team discovered that the original measurements were inaccurate. This discovery required another inspection.

In the revised sentence, this functions as a determiner because it is followed by discovery.

That is a useful writing choice, not a rule that every standalone this must be replaced.

For example:

The laboratory has been closed for two weeks. This has delayed the experiments.

The meaning is clear: the closure delayed the experiments.

There’s no need to repeat the closure simply to avoid using a demonstrative pronoun.

Choosing the Clearer Reference

Consider what your reader will understand when they encounter this, that, these, or those.

The reference might be an object, a person, a group of things, or an entire statement.

When the surrounding sentence makes the meaning obvious, the pronoun works naturally.

When the reader could reasonably identify two different events or objects, name the intended one or restructure the sentence.

The aim is clear reference, not avoiding demonstrative pronouns.

Check Your Understanding

Choose the correct form, identify its function, or revise the sentence.

1. Choose the correct demonstrative pronoun.

A technician is holding one component and pointing toward several components on a distant shelf.

This component is ready, but (these / those) still need testing.

2. Identify the function of those.

Those contain the survey responses collected last month.

Is those a demonstrative pronoun or a demonstrative determiner?

3. Identify the reference.

The publisher cancelled the planned release. That disappointed the authors.

What does that refer to?

4. Explain the difference between it and this.

The printer stopped working. It needs replacing.

The printer stopped working. This delayed production.

What does each pronoun refer to?

5. Identify the function of that.

The report that identified the problem was published yesterday.

Is that a demonstrative pronoun, a demonstrative determiner, or a relative-clause marker?

6. Explain what those replaces.

The results from the second trial were more consistent than those from the first.

7. Revise an unclear reference.

The company changed its delivery schedule and reduced the number of drivers. This caused repeated delays.

Rewrite the final sentence if the reduction in drivers caused the delays.

Answers

1. Those

The technician is referring to several components at a distance. Those is the plural demonstrative pronoun appropriate to that situation.

2. Demonstrative pronoun

Those stands independently as the subject of contain. No noun immediately follows it to form a noun phrase such as those documents.

3. The cancellation

That refers to the publisher’s decision to cancel the planned release.

4. Different references

In the first sentence, it refers to the printer.

In the second, this refers to the breakdown or the situation it created.

5. Relative-clause marker

That introduces the relative clause that identified the problem. It is traditionally classified as a relative pronoun.

It does not function as a demonstrative in this sentence.

6. The results

Those substitutes for the results. The sentence compares results from the second trial with results from the first.

7. Identify the cause

One suitable revision is:

The company changed its delivery schedule and reduced the number of drivers. The reduction in drivers caused repeated delays.

The revised sentence identifies the cause directly instead of leaving the reader to choose between two possible explanations.

First English Grade Editorial

The First English Grade Editorial creates simple English grammar, vocabulary, and language guides for students, beginners, and everyday learners.