When a demonstrative adjective functions this way, it is actually behaving substantively as a pronoun (which we call a demonstrative pronoun).

They appear before the noun they modify.

Recall that predicate adjectives have the following properties: Notice especially that a demonstrative adjective will occur after any other attributive adjectives that might modify the noun in a phrase (for example, in the phrase ha-ish hattov hazzeh, the demonstrative adjective appears after the adjective hattov.)Ģ. In each case the adjective is being used attributively. In these examples, notice how the demonstrative adjectives appear after their nouns with which they agree in gender, number, and definiteness.

Definiteness (if the noun is definite, the adjective must be, too).

They agree with the noun they modify in:.

A noun with an attributive adjective is said to comprise an adjective phrase (for example, this man, where the adjective this modifies the noun man and the two words comprise a phrase ).Īttributive adjectives have the following properties:

When a demonstrative adjective is used to directly modify a noun, it is said to be used attributively. Note that the plural for both genders take two different forms.)ĭemonstrative adjectives follow the same rules as other adjectives, and can be used either attributively or predicatively. (These forms are identical to third-person personal pronouns which we will study in

(Note that the plural form is the same for both genders.)Īnd here is the paradigm for the 'that- those' pair: Here is the paradigm for the 'this-these' pair: Moreover, they follow the same basic usage rules for adjectives that you have already learned. In Hebrew, demonstrative adjectives function in much the same way as they do in English. Note: the definite article is actually a form of demonstrative adjective, since it likewise points to the object. The first pair (this-these) points to something near at hand, whereas the second pair (that-those) points to something relatively distant or remote from the speaker: In English, a demonstrative adjective answers the question 'which?' by directly pointing to a noun or pronoun.

What is demonstrative adjective