Posted by Nash Biani
Lesson 5
(Page 1)
Hi everybody! In this spoken English lesson, we will talk about demonstratives. What are demonstratives? Quite simply, they are words that demonstrate. In very simple language, they are words which 'point' at something or somebody. If the thing or the person is near, we say 'this' . If the thing or person is at a distance, we say 'that'. If we are speaking about more than one thing, then we say 'these' for things or people who are near and we say, 'those' for things or people who are far.
However, we must not forget that these demonstratives can be used also to talk about things and people with reference to time. If we refer to something nearer to the time of speaking, then in English, we say 'this' or 'these' depending on whether the sentence is in singular or plural mode. If the time interval between the thing or event is longer, we use 'that' or 'those', again depending on the singular or plural nature of the sentence.
So, we might say:
this morning that morning
this week that week
these days those days
this meeting that meeting
Demonstratives may be demonstrative pronouns or demonstrative adjectives in English grammar. But hey! Do you want to confuse yourself? Are you following the English Aam Spoken English programme to appear for a grammar exam? I hope not!
Look, we aren't here to become scholars of English or to learn grammar. We are here just to learn to speak good, natural sounding English and to do that, we don't need to understand the difference between a demonstrative pronoun and a demonstrative adjective. So, we will skip this totally.
ABSOLUTE BEGINNER COURSE SPOKEN ENGLISH
Lesson 5
(Page 1)
Demonstratives : how to use
this-these-that-those
section I
Hi everybody! In this spoken English lesson, we will talk about demonstratives. What are demonstratives? Quite simply, they are words that demonstrate. In very simple language, they are words which 'point' at something or somebody. If the thing or the person is near, we say 'this' . If the thing or person is at a distance, we say 'that'. If we are speaking about more than one thing, then we say 'these' for things or people who are near and we say, 'those' for things or people who are far.
However, we must not forget that these demonstratives can be used also to talk about things and people with reference to time. If we refer to something nearer to the time of speaking, then in English, we say 'this' or 'these' depending on whether the sentence is in singular or plural mode. If the time interval between the thing or event is longer, we use 'that' or 'those', again depending on the singular or plural nature of the sentence.
So, we might say:
this morning that morning
this week that week
these days those days
this meeting that meeting
Copy what is written above in your English Aam Spoken English Grammar Book
Demonstratives may be demonstrative pronouns or demonstrative adjectives in English grammar. But hey! Do you want to confuse yourself? Are you following the English Aam Spoken English programme to appear for a grammar exam? I hope not!
Look, we aren't here to become scholars of English or to learn grammar. We are here just to learn to speak good, natural sounding English and to do that, we don't need to understand the difference between a demonstrative pronoun and a demonstrative adjective. So, we will skip this totally.
Click to view English Aam Spoken English Video Mehfil Number 5
Copy this in your English Aam Spoken English Grammar Book:
Close Far
(In time or distance) (In time or distance)
singular this (one) singular that (one)
plural these (more than one) plural these (more than one)
LESSONS IN ABSOLUTE
BEGINNER COURSE
CHAPTER 1
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