Editing Demonstrative (section)

{{Short description|Words indicating which object is being referred to}}

'''Demonstratives''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations|abbreviated]] '''{{sc|dem}}''') are [[word]]s, such as ''this'' and ''that'', used to indicate which entities are being referred to and to distinguish those entities from others. They are typically [[deictic]], their meaning depending on a particular [[Linguistic frame of reference|frame of reference]], and cannot be understood without context. Demonstratives are often used in spatial deixis (where the speaker or sometimes the listener is to provide context), but also in intra-discourse reference (including [[Abstraction|abstract concepts]]) or [[anaphora (linguistics)|anaphora]], where the meaning is dependent on something other than the relative physical location of the speaker. An example is whether something is currently being said or was said earlier.

Demonstrative constructions include demonstrative [[adjective]]s or demonstrative [[determiner]]s, which specify [[noun]]s (as in ''Put '''that''' coat on''), and demonstrative [[pronoun]]s, which stand independently (as in ''Put '''that''' on''). The demonstratives in [[English language|English]] are ''this'', ''that'', ''these'', ''those'', and the archaic ''yon'' and ''yonder'', along with ''this one, these ones,'' ''that one'' and ''those ones'' as substitutes for the pronouns.