指示詞は、話し手に対して物、出来事や人がどこにあるかを示し、物理的、精神的な近さや距離を表すことが出来ます。出来事を言う時、近い指示詞は現在を表し、遠い指示詞は過去を表します。
| 話し手に近い | 話し手から遠い | |
|---|---|---|
| 副詞 | Here | There |
| 単数名詞&不可算名詞と指示詞 | This | That |
| 可算名詞の複数形と指示詞 | These | Those |
指示詞の使い方
例
| 話し手に近い | 話し手から遠い |
|---|---|
| Is this John's house? | Is that John's house over there? |
| This is a nice surprise! | That must have been a nice surprise for you. |
| These apples are mine. | Those apples are yours. |
| What are you up to these days? | Those days are long gone. |
| This time I won't be late. | We really surprised you that time. |
| This sugar is for my crepes. | You can use that sugar for your cake. |
文章内での配置
指示詞は名詞や、名詞を修飾する形容詞の前に置かれます。
例
- This blue car needs to be washed next.
- Those people were here first.
- That metal rod should work.
- These oranges are delicious.
指示詞は、文脈から名詞が明らかな場合、数字の前に現れます。
例
- I'd like to try on that one.
- This one is broken.
- I'll take these three.
- Those two are not as pretty as these two.
それらが修飾する名詞が文脈から明らかな場合、指示詞はそれだけで使うことが出来ます。
例
- I'll never forget this.
- That has nothing to do with me.
- I didn't ask for these.
- Those aren't mine.