Demonstrative Pronouns in Arabic

In Brief

Arabic demonstratives distinguish near things from far things and normally match the noun's grammatical gender and number: هذا كتاب “this is a book,” هذه سيارة “this is a car,” and هؤلاء الطلاب “these students.” To say “this book” rather than “this is a book,” Arabic makes the noun definite: هذا الكتاب.

Overview

Demonstratives are words that point to a person or thing: “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those.” In Arabic they are called أسماء الإشارة. The everyday beginner set in Modern Standard Arabic is هذا، هذه، هؤلاء، ذلك، تلك، أولئك. Unlike English, Arabic usually chooses a form according to the grammatical gender of the noun as well as whether the meaning is singular or plural and near or far.

This is an A1 topic, but it connects several essential parts of Arabic grammar. You need to recognize a noun's gender—whether Arabic treats it as masculine or feminine—and you need to notice definiteness, the difference between a specific “the” noun and a nonspecific “a” noun. The contrast between هذا كتاب and هذا الكتاب also introduces an important feature of Arabic: there is normally no written equivalent of “is” in a simple present-tense sentence.

The main rules below apply to Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the variety used in formal writing, news, education, and communication across the Arab world. Spoken dialects use related but often different forms; a short comparison appears later.

How It Works

The core forms

Distance	Singular masculine	Singular feminine	Human plural
Near	هذا (hādhā, this)	هذه (hādhihi, this)	هؤلاء (hāʾulāʾi, these)
Far	ذلك (dhālika, that)	تلك (tilka, that)	أولئك (ulāʾika, those)

Start by learning the table as three pairs:

• هذا / ذلك for a singular masculine noun
• هذه / تلك for a singular feminine noun
• هؤلاء / أولئك for plural people

The gender belongs to the Arabic noun, not to the physical object. كتاب “book” is masculine, so Arabic uses هذا الكتاب. سيارة “car” is feminine, so it uses هذه السيارة. A feminine noun often ends in ة, called tāʾ marbūṭa (the rounded letter usually marking a feminine noun), but not every feminine noun has that ending. For example, الشمس “the sun” is feminine: هذه الشمس.

Pointing on its own or identifying a noun

A demonstrative can stand on its own as a pronoun:

• ما هذا؟ — What is this?
• هذه لي. — This one is mine.
• من هؤلاء؟ — Who are these people?

It can also point out a named person or thing. In that use, the usual MSA order is:

demonstrative + definite noun

• هذا الكتاب — this book
• هذه السيارة — this car
• ذلك الرجل — that man
• هؤلاء الطلاب — these students

The noun normally carries الـ “the,” even though the natural English translation uses only “this” or “that.” Literally, the structure resembles “this the-book,” but it functions as one definite noun phrase. Do not copy the English order or omit الـ.

“This book” versus “this is a book”

Definiteness changes the structure and meaning:

Arabic	Structure	Meaning
هذا كتاب	demonstrative + indefinite noun	This is a book.
هذا الكتاب	demonstrative + definite noun	this book
هذه سيارة	demonstrative + indefinite noun	This is a car.
هذه السيارة	demonstrative + definite noun	this car

The indefinite noun in هذا كتاب is the predicate (the information given about the subject): “This is a book.” Arabic does not normally insert a present-tense form of “to be” between them. By contrast, هذا الكتاب identifies one particular book.

A longer sentence makes the difference especially clear:

• هذا الكتاب جديد. — This book is new.
• هذا كتاب جديد. — This is a new book.

In the first sentence, الكتاب is definite and forms “this book” with هذا; جديد is the new information. In the second, كتاب جديد is one indefinite description: “a new book.”

Matching gender and number

With singular nouns, choose the masculine or feminine demonstrative:

• هذا البيت — this house (masculine)
• هذه الغرفة — this room (feminine)
• ذلك الباب — that door (masculine)
• تلك المدينة — that city (feminine)

For plural people, use هؤلاء for “these” and أولئك for “those.” The same plural demonstratives can refer to male groups and female groups:

• هؤلاء المعلمون — these male teachers
• هؤلاء المعلمات — these female teachers
• أولئك الرجال — those men
• أولئك النساء — those women

The important non-human plural rule

A plural noun referring to things, animals, or other non-human beings normally takes feminine singular agreement in Standard Arabic. This means that “these books” uses هذه, not هؤلاء:

• هذه الكتب — these books
• هذه السيارات — these cars
• تلك البيوت — those houses
• تلك الأشجار — those trees

This rule may feel unexpected to an English speaker because English always uses plural “these” and “those.” In Arabic, first ask whether the plural refers to humans. Use هؤلاء/أولئك for people; use هذه/تلك for an ordinary non-human plural.

Adding an adjective

An adjective is a describing word such as “new” or “large.” Arabic adjectives normally come after the noun. When an adjective belongs inside the definite phrase, it is definite too:

• هذا الكتاب الجديد — this new book
• هذه السيارة الجديدة — this new car
• هؤلاء الطلاب الجدد — these new students

If the final adjective is indefinite, it usually supplies the predicate instead:

• هذا الكتاب جديد. — This book is new.
• هذه السيارة جديدة. — This car is new.
• هؤلاء الطلاب جدد. — These students are new.

The presence or absence of الـ therefore helps the listener see where the noun phrase ends and the new statement begins.

Examples in Context

Arabic	English	Note
هذا كتاب.	This is a book.	Masculine singular; كتاب is indefinite.
هذه سيارة.	This is a car.	Feminine singular; سيارة is indefinite.
هذا الكتاب مفيد.	This book is useful.	هذا الكتاب is one definite phrase.
هذه القهوة ساخنة.	This coffee is hot.	قهوة is grammatically feminine.
ما هذا؟	What is this?	The demonstrative stands alone.
من هذه؟	Who is this woman?	Feminine reference understood from context.
ذلك الرجل طبيب.	That man is a doctor.	Far, masculine singular.
تلك المرأة معلمتي.	That woman is my teacher.	Far, feminine singular.
هؤلاء الطلاب في المكتبة.	These students are in the library.	Near human plural.
هؤلاء الطالبات من الأردن.	These female students are from Jordan.	هؤلاء works for female people too.
أولئك أصدقائي.	Those people are my friends.	The plural demonstrative stands alone.
هذه الكتب سهلة.	These books are easy.	Non-human plural takes feminine singular هذه.
تلك البيوت قديمة.	Those houses are old.	Non-human plural takes feminine singular تلك.
أريد هذا القلم، لا ذلك القلم.	I want this pen, not that pen.	Direct contrast between near and far.
هذه ليست حقيبتي.	This is not my bag.	ليست negates the feminine nominal sentence.

Common Mistakes

1. Ignoring the noun's gender

• Wrong: هذا سيارة
• Right: هذه سيارة
• Why: سيارة is feminine, so it needs feminine هذه. The fact that a car has no natural sex is irrelevant; Arabic grammatical gender controls the choice.

2. Leaving a noun indefinite in a “this noun” phrase

• Wrong: أقرأ هذا كتاب.
• Right: أقرأ هذا الكتاب.
• Why: To mean “this book,” the noun after the demonstrative is definite, usually with الـ. هذا كتاب on its own means “This is a book,” not “this book.”

3. Using the English word order

• Wrong: الكتاب هذا in neutral formal MSA for “this book”
• Right: هذا الكتاب
• Why: The basic MSA pattern places the demonstrative before the definite noun. Postposed demonstratives occur in dialects and in marked contexts, but they are not the safest beginner model for formal Arabic.

4. Using plural demonstratives with things

• Wrong: هؤلاء الكتب
• Right: هذه الكتب
• Why: A non-human plural normally behaves as feminine singular for agreement. Reserve هؤلاء primarily for plural people.

5. Confusing a describing adjective with a predicate

• Different meanings: هذا الكتاب الجديد / هذا الكتاب جديد
• Right translations: “this new book” / “this book is new”
• Why: Definite الجديد belongs inside the noun phrase. Indefinite جديد gives new information about the book and means “is new.”

Usage Notes

Near and far are contextual

هذا/هذه/هؤلاء usually present something as near the speaker, while ذلك/تلك/أولئك present it as farther away. Distance can be physical—one cup is in your hand and another is across the room—but it can also be conversational. A writer may use a demonstrative to refer back to an idea already mentioned, much as English uses “this idea” or “that result.” At A1, treating the contrast simply as near versus far is enough.

Arabic also has presentative expressions that attract attention, similar to “here is” or “there is”: ها هو الكتاب “here is the book” and ها هي السيارة “here is the car.” These contain a personal pronoun (هو/هي) and should not be confused with the basic phrase هذا الكتاب/هذه السيارة.

Formal Arabic and spoken varieties

The forms taught here are standard across formal Arabic. Everyday speech varies by region. Egyptian Arabic commonly uses ده for masculine “this,” دي for feminine “this,” and دول for “these/those” depending on context. Many Levantine varieties use forms such as هاد, هاي, and هدول. Other regions have their own systems.

These are not careless versions of MSA; they belong to established spoken grammars. If your goal is conversation in one region, learn that dialect's demonstratives alongside the MSA forms. In formal writing and broadly understood prepared speech, use the standard forms in this article.

Writing and pronunciation

In carefully vocalized text, هذا may be written هٰذا with a small dagger alif above the first letter. Ordinary unvocalized writing almost always shows هذا. Its pronunciation contains a long ā after the ه, even though a full-sized alif is not written there. A similar spelling detail occurs in هذه, whose standard careful pronunciation is hādhihi.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following forms at A1, but they complete the Standard Arabic system and will appear in formal texts.

Dual demonstratives

Arabic has a dual, a special grammatical number used for exactly two. Dual demonstratives also change according to case—the ending pattern that reflects a noun phrase's role in a formal sentence.

Distance	Gender	Subject form (nominative)	Object/after-preposition form (accusative or genitive)
Near	Masculine	هذانِ	هذينِ
Near	Feminine	هاتانِ	هاتينِ
Far	Masculine	ذانكِ	ذينكِ
Far	Feminine	تانكِ	تينكِ

Compare:

• هذانِ الطالبانِ مجتهدانِ. — These two students are hardworking.
• رأيت هذينِ الطالبينِ. — I saw these two students.
• تحدثت مع هاتينِ الطالبتينِ. — I spoke with these two female students.

The far dual forms are valid but much less frequent in contemporary everyday MSA than the core singular and plural set. Learners often use a noun with هذان/هاتان or make distance clear from context rather than needing the rare far forms.

Demonstratives and formal case endings

Most core demonstratives have fixed forms: هذا، هذه، هؤلاء، ذلك، تلك، أولئك do not visibly change just because their sentence role changes. Grammarians describe them as indeclinable, meaning their endings stay fixed even though the whole phrase occupies a grammatical case position. The dual forms are the major visible exception, as هذانِ changes to هذينِ and هاتانِ to هاتينِ.

In fully vocalized formal Arabic, the noun and adjective after a demonstrative can show case endings according to their role:

• جاء هذا الطالبُ. — This student came.
• رأيت هذا الطالبَ. — I saw this student.
• تحدثت مع هذا الطالبِ. — I spoke with this student.

Ordinary Arabic text usually omits these final short-vowel marks, so all three phrases are normally written هذا الطالب. Their sentence function is then understood from word order, prepositions, and context.

What the far forms contain

Historically and grammatically, forms such as ذلك can be analyzed as a pointing base plus elements associated with distance and the addressee. Classical and highly formal Arabic has additional variations that can reflect who is being addressed. Modern learners do not need this full set to communicate accurately. Treat ذلك، تلك، أولئك as the standard far forms unless you are studying Classical Arabic or detailed traditional grammar.

Practice Tips

1. Learn nouns with a demonstrative. Instead of memorizing only باب “door” and سيارة “car,” say هذا الباب and هذه السيارة. This turns every vocabulary review into gender practice.
2. Make two versions of each phrase. Pair هذا كتاب with هذا الكتاب and هذه صورة with هذه الصورة. Say the English meanings aloud so that “this is a…” and “this…” do not merge in your memory.
3. Sort plural examples into people and things. Make one list with هؤلاء الطلاب، هؤلاء الأطباء and another with هذه الكتب، هذه الكراسي. This directly trains the non-human plural rule that English does not have.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Noun Gender — helps you choose between masculine هذا/ذلك and feminine هذه/تلك.
• Next step: Nominal Sentences — explains present-tense sentences such as هذا كتاب and هذا الكتاب جديد without an expressed “is.”
• Next step: Adjective Agreement — develops patterns such as هذا الكتاب الجديد and هذه السيارة الجديدة.
• Next step: Dual Number — covers the number system behind هذانِ، هذينِ، هاتانِ، هاتينِ.