Is These An Adjective? | Grammar Rule Students Forget

English learners meet the word these early, yet questions about its label never seem to end. Many worksheets still ask, is these an adjective?, and some older books even use that term. For teachers and students, mixed labels can turn a simple word into a source of doubt.

This article clears that doubt with clear examples, classroom tips, and side by side comparisons. You will see how these behaves in real sentences, how grammars describe it today, and how to guide learners who still hear the old adjective label.

Why Students Ask Is These An Adjective?

Students often learn early lists such as “this, that, these, those” under the heading demonstrative adjectives. Years later they meet a teacher, a test, or a modern grammar book that calls these a determiner or pronoun instead. At that point the short question is these an adjective? feels natural.

The short answer from current reference works is clear. Sources such as the Cambridge Grammar entry on “this, that, these, those” treat them as demonstratives that act as determiners and pronouns, not as standard descriptive adjectives. British Council teaching pages give the same message for classroom use.

Word	Modern Label	Example In A Sentence
this	demonstrative determiner	This book is on the table.
that	demonstrative determiner	Do you like that song?
these	demonstrative determiner	These pencils need sharpening.
those	demonstrative determiner	Those shoes look new.
these	pronoun	These are my notes.
those	pronoun	Those are yours.
my	possessive determiner	My keys are on the desk.
some	quantifier determiner	Some students arrived late.

Is “These” An Adjective In Modern Grammar?

Modern reference grammars group this, that, these, those under the heading demonstratives. They describe two main patterns. The words stand before a noun, where they act as determiners, or they stand alone, where they act as pronouns. In both cases they point to specific people or things.

In older school traditions, any word in front of a noun that did not clearly show number or possession often fell into a broad “adjective” box. That is why older tests talk about demonstrative adjectives. In present day descriptions, determiners form their own group, separate from adjectives such as blue, happy, or tall.

The British Council guide to demonstratives shows this clearly. It explains that this, that, these, those point to distance and number, and can stand before nouns or replace them. That pattern matches determiners and pronouns much more than classic describing words.

How These Works As A Determiner

When these comes before a plural noun, it acts as a demonstrative determiner. It tells the reader or listener which items you mean and signals that they are plural and close to the speaker in space, time, or thought.

These Before A Noun

Look at the sentence “These apples taste sweet.” The word apples is a plural noun. The word these stands directly before it and limits the group. You do not mean all apples in the world. You mean the apples near you, perhaps on the table in front of you.

Now compare “These worksheets go in the blue folder.” Again, these selects a specific set. If you move to a different folder and point again, you might say “Those worksheets stay here.” The label on these has not changed. It still works as a demonstrative determiner.

Agreement With Plural Nouns

These always pairs with a plural noun. “These pencil” sounds wrong to fluent speakers, while “These pencils” sounds fine. When you coach learners, link these and pencils together in a kind of package. The determiner and noun need to match in number.

This link between form and meaning helps students stop mixing “this” and “these”. “This” sits next to singular count nouns, such as “this pencil” or “this idea”. “These” sits next to plural count nouns, such as “these pencils” or “these ideas”.

Some learners also attach these to uncountable nouns such as “information” or “homework”. In those cases, you can remind them that countable items take these, while uncountable items usually take this or no demonstrative at all. Contrast pairs on the board, such as “this information” vs “these facts”, help make that pattern clear.

How These Works As A Pronoun

These also appears on its own without a noun after it. In these cases, it takes the place of the noun group. That means it works as a pronoun.

Replacing A Noun Group

Take the dialogue “Do you want the red pens or the blue pens?” “I will take these.” The second speaker does not repeat the phrase “the blue pens”. The word these stands in its place. The listener understands which pens the speaker means from context and from the way the speaker points or looks.

In another scene, a teacher hands out printed copies and says “These are your reading tasks for the week.” The papers in the teacher’s hand form the noun group. The word these points to them without naming them again.

Subject And Object Uses

As a pronoun, these can stand in subject or object position. “These are yours” places these before the verb as the subject. “Can you sort these for me?” places these after the verb as the object. The label demonstrative pronoun covers both patterns.

When students ask why they cannot write “These is yours”, you can connect grammar pattern and meaning. The verb needs to match a plural subject, so “These are yours” keeps the sentence balanced.

Why Older Books Call These An Adjective

Earlier teaching traditions used a small closed list of word classes. Many school books placed nearly all noun modifiers into the adjective group. That list included color words, size words, and determiners such as this, that, these, those, as well as possessive forms such as my or our.

Later, linguists looked more closely at the way words behave. Determiners such as these do not grade with more or most. They do not usually link to verbs with be in the way that typical adjectives can. You can say “The room is bright” or “The cake is sweet”, yet “The room is these” or “The cake is these” does not work.

Because of patterns like this, present day reference works treat determiners and adjectives as two related but separate groups. Old labels survive in some workbooks and exam papers, which explains why questions such as “Is These An Adjective?” still appear in classrooms.

Is These An Adjective In Any Situations?

Most present day reference works would answer “no” to the title question and then place these in the determiner or pronoun box. That said, you may still see the older phrase “demonstrative adjective” in regional boards or legacy worksheets. In those contexts the label reflects an older system, not a different meaning in the word itself.

Some teachers choose to explain both systems. They mention that older books use the adjective label, then move learners on to the determiner label that modern grammars prefer. Others keep one label only, point students to current dictionaries, and stay with that for every test or worksheet in the course.

Common Errors With These In Classrooms

Most learner mistakes with these fall into a small set of patterns. Once you know those patterns, you can design quick drills and board examples that clear them up.

Error Sentence	Issue	Better Version
These book is good.	singular noun after these	These books are good.
This apples are fresh.	this with plural noun	These apples are fresh.
These is my friend.	singular verb with plural subject	These are my friends.
I like these one.	noun after pronoun use	I like this one.
Those here are heavy.	mixed signals for distance	These here are heavy.
These kind of book	noun phrase does not agree	These kinds of books
Is these an adjective?	outdated label for word class	Is these a determiner?

Teaching Tips For These In The Classroom

If you want learners to feel at ease with these, tie meaning, form, and label together. Meaning comes first. Show real objects near and far. Use cards, books, pens, or digital images. Ask “What are these?” and “What are those?” while pointing, so students link the word to distance and number.

Next, draw a small chart on the board with two rows: singular and plural. Fill it with pairs such as “this book / these books” and “that chair / those chairs”. Leave the chart on display during tasks that call for demonstratives. The visual link helps learners pick the right form under time pressure.

In multilingual groups it helps to ask how demonstratives work in learners’ first languages. Some systems mark distance in three levels, not just “near” and “far”. Others link the choice of word to respect for the listener. Comparisons give learners a reason for their mistakes and make the English set of four forms easier to handle.

Connecting Labels To Real Use

When students are ready for grammar labels, tie those labels back to sentences they already know. Start with a simple pattern: “These markers are new.” Underline these markers and write “noun phrase” above it. Then label these as a determiner and markers as a noun.

Later, write “These are new.” Underline these alone and write “pronoun”. Learners now see that the same word can stand beside a noun in one sentence and take the noun’s place in another.

Designing Practice Activities

For a quick starter task, give students pairs of sentences with gaps, such as “___ cake is for you” and “___ are for me”. Ask them to fill each gap with this, that, these, or those. Then let them turn the written sentences into short spoken role plays with pointing and gesture.

For writing work, ask students to describe objects on their desk using two sentences each time: one with the noun and one with the pronoun. A learner might write “These pens belong to Sam. These are her favourite pens.” They now feel the switch from determiner to pronoun within their own sentences.

Main Points About These And Adjectives

The title question “Is These An Adjective?” still turns up in tests and lesson plans, yet current descriptions give a simple answer. In present day grammar, these is a demonstrative determiner when it stands before a noun and a demonstrative pronoun when it replaces that noun group.

If a learner or colleague still uses the older adjective label, you can gently point them toward modern reference works. Clear, consistent labels reduce confusion, help students match forms such as “this/these” and “that/those” to singular and plural nouns, and give them more control over subject verb agreement.