Referring expressions - Verwijswoorden

Demonstrative pronouns - Aanwijzende voornaamwoorden

Click here for self-correcting exercises on referring expressions.
Demonstrative pronouns usually accompany a noun. They point out a specific person or thing. Their form depends on:

    - the gender of the noun they qualify
    - whether the person or thing is near or far relative to the speaker

For example:

Deze trui (de -word, near) is rood, maar die trui (de -word, far) is blauw.
This jumper is red, but that jumper is blue.

Dit kind (het -word, near) is Vlaams, maar dat kind (het -word, far) is Nederlands.
This child is Flemish, but that child is Dutch.

More schematically:
near
far
common (de -words)
deze
die
neuter (het -words)
dit
dat

Remember that all plurals are de -words:

Dit kind (het -word, near) is Vlaams, maar die kinderen (plural het -word, far) zijn Nederlands.
This child is Flemish, but those childeren are Dutch.

Dat meisje (het -word, far) eet een pannenkoek, maar deze meisjes (plural het -word, near) eten poffertjes.
That girl is eating a pancake, but these girls are eating poffertjes.

Demonstrative pronouns have great >>cohesive value, because they can also occur independently (without the noun), to refer back to a noun which has been used earlier:

Heb je geen strippenkaart (de -word)? Je mag deze wel lenen.
Don't you have a travel card? You can borrow this one.

Heb je een fiets (de -word)? Ja, die heb ik.
Have you got a bicycle? Yes, I have one.

Je ziet dan een plein (het -word). Dat steek je over.
Then you see a square. You cross that.

Ik houd meestal niet van pannenkoeken (plural de -word), maar deze vind ik wel lekker.
I don't usually like pancakes, but I do like these.

When used independently with the verb zijn (to be) to identify one or more persons, the demonstrative pronoun behaves unexpectedly. Only dit and dat are used, even when referring to plurals.

Dit is Hanna, en dat zijn haar buren.
This is Hanna and these are her neighbours.

Dit zijn Simone en Karin, en dat is hun broertje.
This is Simone and this is Karin, and that is their little brother.

Dat was gezellig, hè?
That was pleasant, wasn't it?

Nederlanders houden van poffertjes. Dat zijn kleine, zoete pannenkoekjes.
Dutch people love poffertjes, They are small, sweet pancakes.


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Click here to read about demonstrative pronouns in the Beginners Dutch Grammar

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