demonstrative pronoun
- noun
- /ˌdɛmənˈstreɪtɪv ˈproʊnaʊn/
:
pronombre demostrativo
- In the sentence 'This is delicious,' the word this is a demonstrative pronoun.
Examples
-
Use those when referring to objects that are far away.
-
Teachers often explain that these and 'those' are examples of demonstrative pronouns.
-
A demonstrative pronoun helps identify specific items.
-
This is a demonstrative pronoun in English.
-
In the phrase 'Those are my friends,' the word those acts as a demonstrative pronoun.
-
The teacher highlighted that this and that are both demonstrative pronouns used for pointing out specific things.
-
When someone says 'these shoes are new,' the word these is a demonstrative pronoun used to indicate specific items.
Synonyms
34
1.0
A word that replaces a noun, for example he, she, or it
A pronoun that points to something, like this or that
A word or phrase that stands in for a noun
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'demonstrative' (pointing/indicating) combined with 'pronoun' (a word replacing a noun) yields a pronoun used to point to something, matching the provided definition. This adjective+noun pattern is a regular, cross-linguistic combinatory pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
Demonstrative pronoun comes from an old word meaning 'to show' or 'point out', and the little words 'this', 'that', 'these' and 'those' act like a finger pointing at a person or thing, so the name explains why they are used to point to something specific.