pointing words 1

Some words point. In English they are "this" and its plural "these", and "that" and its plural "those". This and these point to nouns that are close to the speaker, and that and those to nouns that are farther away. The grammatical term for pointing words is "demonstratives". A demonstrative can accompany a noun, in which case it's an adjective ("this girl"), or fly solo, in which case it's a pronoun ("this one").

Italian is basically the same except there are different forms of the demonstrative depending on four factors:

1) the gender of the noun it's accompanying or replacing

2) the number of the noun (singular or plural)

3) whether the demonstrative is accompanying a noun (adjective) or flying solo - i.e. replacing a noun (pronoun)

4) in the case of demonstratives used as adjectives, the first letter of the noun the demonstrative is accompanying

The following chart lists the forms of "this" and "these" as both adjective and pronoun. Next week we'll learn "that" and "those". As usual, check back tomorrow for some practice. Ciao for now!

Adjectives (Pointing Words to be Used With Nouns)
This/These

	Masc.	Fem.
Sing.	questo quest’ (before vowel)	questa quest’ (before vowel)
Plur.	questi	queste

Pronouns (Stand-Alone Pointing Words)
This/These

	Masc.	Fem.
Sing.	questo	questa
Plur.	questi	queste