Foreign Languages
Demonstrative adjectives.
Definition
Demonstrative adjectives are words used to point out specific nouns, equivalent to 'this,' 'that,' 'these,' and 'those' in English. In most foreign languages, they must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
Examples
Real-world.
- 1 Spanish: 'este libro' (this book), 'esa casa' (that house), 'aquellos árboles' (those trees over there).
- 2 French: 'ce livre' (this/that book), 'cette maison' (this/that house), 'ces enfants' (these/those children).
- 3 German: 'dieser Mann' (this man), 'diese Frau' (this woman), 'dieses Kind' (this child).
Key Fact
Spanish has three levels of distance: este (near me), ese (near you), aquel (far from both). French uses ce/cet/cette/ces with optional -ci/-là suffixes.
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