Demonstrative Adjective Example: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know what demonstrative adjectives are? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on demonstrative adjectives, including the definition, usage, example sentences, and more!

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What is a demonstrative adjective?

According to Your Dictionary, the demonstrative adjectives are this, that, these, and those. They indicate which noun or pronoun you are referring to in a sentence, if it is singular or plural, and where it is in space and time. Sometimes yon and yonder are used as in the famous line from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: “What light through yonder window breaks?”

Demonstrative pronouns are also present Spanish and French. According to Fluent U, the French demonstrative adjectives are celui, celle, cela, ces, cet, lequel, cette, ceci, ceux, ci, and celles. The Spanish demonstrative adjectives are estos, ese, esos, aquellos, estas, esas, aquellas, aquel, aquella, este, esa, and esta. The demonstratives depend on the gender of the noun as well as if they are singular nouns or plural nouns – thus, the plural forms would use plural demonstrative adjectives and the singular forms would use singular demonstrative adjectives..

Many different languages also contain terms that mean demonstrative adjective. You may notice that many of these translations of demonstrative adjective from Word Sense look and sound similar to the term demonstrative adjective. These are called cognates, which are formed when two words have the same root or language of origin. 

  •  Romanian: adjectiv demonstrativ‎ (neut.)
  •  Norman: adjectif dêmonstratif‎ (masc.)
  •  Japanese: 指示形容詞‎ (shiji keiyōshi)
  •  French: adjectif démonstratif‎ (masc.)
  •  Icelandic: hliðstætt ábendingarfornafn‎ (neut.)
  •  Dutch: bijvoegelijk aanwijzend voornaamwoord‎ (neut.)
  •  Irish: aidiacht thaispeántach‎ (fem.)
  •  German: see adjektivisches Demonstrativpronomen
  •  Russian: указа́тельное прилага́тельное‎ (neut.)

What are examples of demonstrative determiners?

A demonstrative adjective can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! The following sentences are examples of demonstrative adjectives from Your Dictionary and Learn Grammar that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Try to use the term demonstrative adjectives today or notice when someone else is using a demonstrative adjective.

  •  But this hut is more beautiful than that building.
  •  The seventh day of the week is Sunday.
  •  I want those gorgeous marbles.
  •  I wanted to propose to you that day.
  •  Will you please grant me that loan we talked about?
  •  After my third piece of pizza, I was stuffed.
  •  The first paycheck I received was for $500.
  •  Those two are best friends.
  •  Please clean that dish that had the chocolates on it.
  •  For her fiftieth birthday party in September, we bought my mom a huge cake.
  •  I can’t forget that incident with the candles from December.
  •  This placement of the frame has to be equivalent to the other side.
  •  Those rascals are back in town as of yesterday.
  •  This pen is smoother than that pencil.
  •  I had difficulty understanding those accents.
  •  I could not manage it at that moment.
  •  I gave him that shirt on Monday.
  •  In the late nineteenth century, the Civil War in the United States was fought.
  •  That building is stronger than this hut.
  •  This time I won’t fail you.
  •  This soup is good.
  •  That newsletter is rife with ambiguity and blank spaces, and could use clarity.
  •  Those people were mean to her.
  •  Give me those puppies and my boots.
  •  These vegetables are rotting.
  •  They paid her a fortune for leaking that USA Today story
  •  I cannot give you that toy at this moment.

What are other literary techniques and devices?

There are many different literary and grammatical techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these terms because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of grammatical devices from OED and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you. 

  • progressive
  •  pro-form
  •  common noun
  •  interrogative
  •  adverbial | adverbially
  •  plural
  •  indicative
  •  mass noun
  •  declarative
  •  combining form (comb. form)
  •  definite article
  •  passive infinitive
  •  indefinite
  •  comparative
  •  first person
  •  main clause
  •  gender
  •  masculine
  •  adverb (adv.)
  •  impersonal (impers.)
  •  indirect passive
  •  count noun
  •  premodify | premodifier
  •  concrete
  •  finite
  •  modify | modifier
  •  compound | compounding
  •  head
  •  possessive pronouns | proper name
  •  anticipatory
  •  indirect speech
  •  dative
  •   subjunctive
  •  cognate object
  •  person
  •  sentence adverb |sentence adverbial
  •  interjection
  •  dual
  •  construed (const., constr.)
  •  mood
  •  tense
  •  perfect
  •  periphrasis | periphrastic
  •  genitive
  •  inflection | inflected | inflectional
  •  objective
  •  present participle
  •  transitive
  •  active
  •  accusative
  •  cataphoric
  •  subordinate clause
  •  positive
  •  non-finite
  •  singular
  •  appositive
  •  to-infinitive
  •  simple
  •  verbal noun
  •  possessive
  •  predicative
  •  past tense
  •  antecedent
  •  indirect object
  •  abstract
  •  ellipsis | elliptical
  •  suffix
  •  stem
  •  unmarked genitive
  •  that-clause
  •  double object
  •  part of speech
  •  object | direct object | indirect object
  •  nominal relative | nominal relative clause
  •  possessive pronoun
  •  reflexive
  •  agree | agreement
  •  passive
  •  apodosis and protasis
  •  verb (v.)
  •  phrase (phr.)
  •  past participle
  •  absolute (absol.)
  •  base form
  •  anaphoric
  •  direct question
  •  protasis
  •  personal pronoun
  •  relative
  •  filler
  •  collective noun
  •  nominative
  •  intransitive
  •  main verb
  •  clause
  •  morpheme
  •  feminine
  •  third-person
  •  superlative
  •  parasynthetic
  •  prepositional passive
  •  pronoun (pron.)
  •  infinitive
  •  determiner
  •  intensifier
  •  similative
  •  copular verb | copula
  •  participial adjective
  •  combination
  •  case
  •  attributive
  •  conjunction (conj.)
  •  causative
  •  demonstrative
  •  adjective
  •  zero
  •  conditional
  •  complement
  •  postmodify | postmodifier
  •  pleonasm | pleonastic
  •  neuter
  •  auxiliary verb | auxiliary
  •  article
  •  instrumental
  •  direct object
  •  imperative (imper.)
  •  second person
  •  complementary
  •  subjective
  •  agent noun
  •  phrasal verb
  •  vocative
  •  non-referential
  •  noun phrase
  •  possessive adjective
  •  parenthetical | parenthetically
  •  noun (n.)
  •  prepositional object
  •  special use
  •  prefix
  •  element
  •  prepositional phrase
  •  construction
  •  locative
  •  collocation | collocate
  •  subject
  •  modal verb | modal auxiliary verb | modal auxiliary
  •  direct speech
  •  bare infinitive
  •  quasi-
  •  present tense
  •  preposition (prep.)
  •  participle | past participle | present participle
  •  indirect question
  •  apposition
  •  number
  •  optative

Overall, the term demonstrative adjectives refer to which noun or pronoun you are referring to in a sentence.

Sources:

  1. Glossary of Grammatical Terms | OED
  2. Examples of Demonstrative Adjective | Learn English  
  3. demonstrative adjective: meaning, translation, synonyms | Word Sense 
  4. What Is a Demonstrative Adjective? A Simple Explanation | Your Dictionary 
  5. French Demonstrative Pronouns: A Sweet Shortcut to Simpler French | Fluent U