The demonstrative phrase / المُرَكّب الإِشاريّ

Arabic has two sets of demonstratives, also known as “أسْماء الإشارة,” which are similar to the English ones this/these and that/those. The demonstrative phrase in Arabic consists of distinctly masculine and feminine cases for each set in the singular and dual forms. However, for plural forms, there is no distinction between genders.

Demonstratives are not subject to noun cases except within the dual form where they differ by nominative or accusative-genitive case distinctions.

Demonstratives table

Distance (that)		Proximity (this)		أَسْماء الإشارة Demonstrative pronouns
المُؤَنَّث Feminine	المُذَكَّر Masculine	المُؤَنَّث Feminine	المُذَكَّر Masculine
َتِلْك that	ذَلِكَ that	هَذِهِ this	هَذا this	المُفْرَد Singular
تانِكَ those two	ذانِكَ those two	هاتانِ these two	هَذانِ these two	مَرْفُوع Nom.	المُثَنّى Dual
تَيْنِكَ those two	ذَيْنَكَ those two	هاتَيْنِ these two	هَذَيْنِ these two	مَنْصُوب ومَجْرور Acc. & Gen.
أُولائِكَ those		هَؤُلاءِ these		الجَمْع Plural

Ways of use

The demonstrative can be used:

• As an adjective / بَدَل
• As a pronoun / ضمِير

The demonstrative as an adjective

The demonstrative acts as a demonstrative adjective when it is put in apposition (بَدَل) before the noun defined by the article. This is not an annexation: the demonstrative has no influence on the case of the noun that follows but agrees with it in gender (except in the plural) and number.

This library is big	هَذِهِ المَكْتَبةُ كَبِيرةٌ
That woman is old	تِلْكَ المَرْأَةُ عَجوزٌ

When a demonstrative is used to qualify the first term of annexation, it must be positioned after the entire phrase (after the 2nd term) similarly to other regular adjectives. In this case, we’ll only use the demonstrative of proximity.

This museum gallery is filthy	رُواقُ المَتْحَفِ هَذه وَسِخةٌ
This ring from the princess is beautiful	خاتِمُ الأَمِيرةِ هَذِا جَميلٌ

Note: The demonstrative may come before the last term of an annexation, which is the only exception to the general rule that nothing separates two terms in an annexation.

The gallery of this museum is filthy	رُواقُ هَذا المَتْحَفِ وَسِخةٌ
This princess’s ring is beautiful	خاتِمُ هَذِه الأَمِيرةِ جَميلٌ

The demonstrative as a pronoun

The demonstrative works as a pronoun when it’s subject (المُبْتَدأ) in a nominal sentence.

In this case, we’ll find three different types of structures depending on the definiteness of the predicate/information (الخبر):

• When the predicate/information (الخبر) is indefinite (نَكِرة) the sentence adopts the classical construction as follows:

Subject  المُبْتَدأ (the demonstrative) + Predicate الخَبَر (an indefinite noun)

These (two) are two books	هَذانِ كِتابانِ
Those (two) are two roses	تانِكَ وَرْدَتانِ

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• When the predicate/information (الخبر) in question is made definite by the article ال , a third-person detached pronoun (ضَمير مُنْفَصِل) must be inserted between the subject (المُبْتَدأ) and the predicate/information to act as an indicator of being – ‘is’ or ‘are.’

Subject/المُبْتَدأ (demonstrative) + Detached pronoun/ضَمير مُنْفَصِل + Predicate/الخَبَر (indefinite noun)

This is the book	هَذا هُوَ الكِتاب
Those are the victorious	هَؤُلاءِ هُمُ المُفْلِحونَ

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• When the predicate/information (الخبر) in question is made definite by an annexation إِضافة we have the choice to keep a regular structure subject + predicate or to add a third-person detached pronoun in between.

This is the owner of the café	هذا صاحِبُ المَقْهى
This is the life of the peasants	تلكَ هِيَ حَياةُ الفَلاّحينَ

Note: Used in isolation, the demonstrative can be the exact equivalent of a 3rd person pronoun

من هذه ؟

Who’s this/who is she?