Is Adjective Demonstrative: 7 Interesting Facts

Well in this article, we shall be finding the answer to the question ‘is adjective demonstrative?’ with the aid of several exciting facts, examples and explanations about demonstrative adjectives.

Demonstrative adjectives are nothing but one kind of adjective that performs the function of modifying or describing the nouns or noun phrases in a sentence by pointing out to them (person, animal, place, or thing)

Find below a few examples where demonstratives are adjectives.

• 1. I want you to answer this question.
• 2. These files have to be checked.
• 3. Ruhan was talking about that woman yesterday.
• 4. Will you eat those apples?

We shall find out and analyze which are the words in the above sentences that are functioning as demonstrative adjectives.

1. I want you to answer this question.

‘This’ is the adjective used in this sentence as it is qualifying the singular noun ‘question’ (a thing). Since, it is pointing out to a particular question that is near, there by modifying it, ‘this’ can be regarded as a demonstrative adjective.

2. These files have to be checked.

The adjective in the above sentence is ‘these’ because it is describing the plural noun ‘files’ (things). ‘These’ is a demonstrative adjective as it is referring to particular files which are far away in distance by answering to the question ‘which files have to be checked?’

3. Ruhan was talking about that woman yesterday.

‘That’ is the adjective used in this sentence as it is qualifying the singular noun ‘woman’ (a person). Since, it is pointing out to a particular woman who is far away in distance, there by modifying it, ‘that’ can be regarded as a demonstrative adjective.

4. Will you eat those apples?

The adjective in the above sentence is ‘those’ because it is describing the plural noun ‘apples’ (things). ‘Those’ is a demonstrative adjective as it is referring to specific apples which are far away in distance by answering to the question ‘which apples will you eat?’

What are demonstrative adjectives?

Demonstrative adjectives are adjectives which modifies the noun or the noun phrase by pointing out to them and referring to them in particular. Demonstrative adjectives can point out to both singular nouns and plural nouns which are close and far away in distance. The various demonstrative adjectives are as follows.

1. This – modifies singular nouns or noun phrases that are close in distance.

2. That – modifies singular nouns or noun phrases that are far away in distance.

3. These – qualifies plural nouns or noun phrases which are close in distance.

4. Those – qualifies plural nouns or noun phrases which are far away in distance.

Example: These books were borrowed from the library.

In this sentence, ‘these’ is the demonstrative adjective utilized in this sentence as it is modifying the noun ‘books’ by pointing out to them in particular. The demonstrative adjective ‘these’ is used since, it is qualifying a plural noun ‘books’ which is close in distance.

When is adjective demonstrative?

An adjective is demonstrative when it is referring or pointing out to the noun that it is qualifying. Also remember, demonstrative adjectives are always present in front of the nouns or noun phrases that they are describing.

Example: This girl is painting very well.

‘This’ is the adjective used in the above sentence to qualify the singular noun ‘girl’ who is near or close in distance. Since, ‘this’ is pointing out to a particular girl and since it is placed right before the noun ‘girl’, which it is qualifying it is a demonstrative adjective.

How is adjective demonstrative?

Adjectives such as this, these, that and those are demonstrative as they are indicating or pointing out at a specific or a particular person, place, thing or animal close by or far away in distance. Demonstrative adjectives answer to the question ‘which’.

Example: Those letters are still not posted.

Here ‘those’ is an adjective which is demonstrative as it is qualifying the plural noun ‘letters’. The answer we get for the question ‘which letters are still not posted?’ is ‘this’ which indicates the letters that are far away in distance by particularly pointing out to them.

Why is adjective demonstrative?

Adjectives like this, that, those and these are demonstrative in nature so that a particular noun or noun phrase can be referred to.

Example: Can you lend me that doll for one day?

The adjective ‘that’ is demonstrative in this sentence because it is describing the singular noun ‘doll’ by pointing out to and referring to a particular doll that is far away in distance. If the demonstrative adjective, ‘that’ is not utilized, the ‘you’ in the sentence, will not know which particular toy, the ‘me’ in the sentence wants to borrow.

Use of demonstrative adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives are used to indicate, denote, refer or point to the particular naming word (person, thing, animal or place) that they are modifying or qualifying. The nouns or noun phrases that they modify can be singular or plural in number as well as near or far away in time and distance.

Example: That year was quite a memorable one.

‘That’ is the demonstrative adjective used in this sentence to refer to a particular year (singular noun) which is far away in time (past). The demonstrative adjective ‘that’, here, is modifying the noun ‘year’ by telling us which particular year was memorable.

Demonstrative adjective sentences

Do go through the sentences that follow and identify the demonstrative adjectives in each of them.

• 1. Sona is finding it hard to solve that problem.
• 2. I really don’t want to go inside this house.
• 3. These children are not participating in any events.
• 4. This cycle was gifted to me on my birthday.
• 5. Those rooms in the corner are vacant.
• 6. Have you met this man before?
• 7. That cupboard is filled with my toys.
• 8. These workers are seldom punctual to work.
• 9. Those chairs have to be cleaned before using.
• 10. This movie is so amazing that I watched it thrice already.

Demonstrative adjective sentences with detailed explanations

We will see why and how demonstrative adjectives are used in all the above sentences.

1. Sona is finding it hard to solve that problem.

The adjective utilized in the above sentence is ‘that’ because it is describing the singular noun ‘problem’ (a thing). ‘That’ is a demonstrative adjective here as it is referring to a particular problem which is far away in distance by answering to the question ‘which problem is Sona finding hard to solve?’

2. I really don’t want to go inside this house.

‘This’ is the adjective used in this sentence as it is qualifying the singular noun ‘house’ (a place). Since, it is pointing out to a particular house which is close by, there by modifying it, the word ‘this’ can be called as a demonstrative adjective.

3. These children are not participating in any events.

‘These’ is the adjective used in this sentence as it is modifying the plural noun ‘children’ (people). Since, it is pointing out to specific children who are near and not participating in any events, there by modifying it, the word ‘these’ can be called as a demonstrative adjective.

4. This cycle was gifted to me on my birthday.

The adjective utilized in the above sentence is ‘this’ because it is describing the singular noun ‘cycle’ (a thing). ‘This’ is functioning as a demonstrative adjective here as it is denoting a particular cycle which is near by answering to the question ‘which cycle was gifted to me on my birthday?’

5. Those rooms in the corner are vacant.

‘Those’ is the adjective used in the above sentence as it is describing the plural noun ‘rooms’ (places). Since, it is pointing out to specific rooms that are vacant which are far way in distance, there by modifying it, the word ‘those’ can be regarded as a demonstrative adjective.

6. Have you met this man before?

‘This’ is the adjective used in the above sentence as it is modifying the singular noun ‘man’ (person). Since, it is pointing out to a particular man who is near in distance, there by modifying it, the word ‘this’ can be called as a demonstrative adjective.

7. That cupboard is filled with my toys.

‘That’ is the adjective used in the above sentence as it is qualifying the singular noun ‘cupboard’ (a thing). Since, it is pointing out specifically to a particular cupboard which is far away and filled with toys, there by modifying it, the word ‘that’ can be regarded as a demonstrative adjective.

8. These workers are seldom punctual to work.

The adjective utilized in the above sentence is ‘these’ because it is describing the plural noun ‘workers’ (people). ‘These’ is functioning as a demonstrative adjective here as it is denoting specific workers who are near and do not come to work on time by answering to the question ‘which workers are seldom punctual to work?’

9. Those chairs have to be cleaned before using.

The adjective utilized in the above sentence is ‘those’ because it is describing the plural noun ‘chairs’ (things/ objects). ‘Those’ is functioning as a demonstrative adjective here as it is referring to particular chairs that are far away in distance by answering to the question ‘which chairs have to be cleaned before using?

10. This movie is so amazing that I watched it thrice already.

‘This’ is the adjective used in the above sentence as it is describing the singular noun ‘movie’ (a thing). Since, it is pointing out particularly to a specific movie that is near and is so amazing that the subject ‘I’ watched it three times already, there by modifying it, the word ‘that’ can be regarded as a demonstrative adjective.

Can demonstrative adjectives be demonstrative pronouns?

No, demonstrative adjectives can never be demonstrative pronouns. Both demonstrative adjectives and demonstrative pronouns point out and refer, but however their functions differ from each other.

The words ‘that’, ‘this’, ‘these’ and ‘those’ are demonstrative pronouns when they do the work of pronouns by taking the place of or substituting the nouns in a sentence.

Example: I know two ways to the shop, but this is shorter.

The word, ‘this’ here is functioning as a demonstrative pronoun, as it is replacing the noun ‘way’ by pointing out to it.

Example: This dress is very colorful.

In this sentence, the word ‘this’ is doing the work of an adjective because it is describing the singular noun ‘dress’ which is nearby by specifically denoting it. Hence here, the word ‘this’ is a demonstrative adjective.

Conclusion

From this article we understood that the demonstrative words can be adjectives but not always. They can be adjectives when they point out in a way in which they modify or describe the nouns for which they have to be present or placed right before the nouns or noun phrases they are qualifying.