Demonstratives: This & That

Demonstratives point to specific nouns — “this” and “that.” Arabic has four main demonstrative pronouns that agree in gender and distance.

The Four Demonstratives

Demonstrative	Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning	Distance
هذا	هذا	hādhā	this (m.)	near
هذه	هذه	hādhihi	this (f.)	near
ذلك	ذلك	dālika	that (m.)	far
تلك	تلك	tilka	that (f.)	far

Usage with Nouns

The demonstrative comes before the noun it modifies:

Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning
هذا كتاب	hādhā kitaab	this is a book
هذا الرجل	hādhā ar-rajul	this man
هذه المرأة	hādhihi al-mar’a	this woman
ذلك المعلم	dālika al-mu3allim	that teacher
تلك المدينة	tilka al-madīna	that city

Demonstratives with Pronoun Suffixes

Demonstratives can take pronoun suffixes to become “this is” or “that is”:

Meaning	Arabic	Transliteration
this is me	هذا أنا	hādhā ana
that is him	ذلك هو	dālika huwa
this is it (f.)	هذه هي	hādhihi hiya

Near vs. Far

Arabic distinguishes between near (هذا, هذه) and far (ذلك, تلك) demonstratives. This is more specific than English, which uses “this” and “that” for both genders.

Near demonstratives (هـ):

هذا الطالب (hādhā aṭ-ṭālib) — this student (near you)
هذه السيارة (hādhihi as-sayyaara) — this car (near you)

Far demonstratives (ذ/ت):

ذلك الطالب (dālika aṭ-ṭālib) — that student (far from both)
تلك السيارة (tilka as-sayyaara) — that car (far from both)

Demonstratives with Numbers

Demonstratives work with numbers in specific ways:

Number	Demonstrative + Noun	Transliteration	Meaning
one (m.)	هذا الكتاب	hādhā al-kitāb	this book
one (f.)	هذه الكتاب	hādhihi al-kitāb	this book (f.)
two	هذان الكتابان	hādhāni al-kitābāni	these two books
two (f.)	هاتان الكتابان	hātāni al-kitābāni	these two books (f.)
three	هذه الكتب	hādhihi al-kutub	these books

Demonstratives with Adjectives

When an adjective modifies the noun after a demonstrative, both the noun and adjective are definite:

Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning
هذا الرجل الكبير	hādhā ar-rajul al-kabeer	this big man
هذه السيارة الجميلة	hādhihi as-sayyaara al-jameela	this beautiful car
ذلك الكتاب القديم	dālika al-kitāb al-qadeem	that old book
تلك المدرسة الجديدة	tilka al-madrasa al-jadeeda	that new school

Common Patterns

Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning
هذا هو	hādhā huwa	this is he / this is it
هذه هي	hādhihi hiya	this is she / this is it
هذا ما أريد	hādhā mā urīd	this is what I want
هذا كل شيء	hādhā kullu shay’	this is everything
هذا ليس جيداً	hādhā laysa jayyidan	this is not good

Demonstratives in Questions

Demonstratives can be used in questions for clarification:

Question	Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning
What is this?	ما هذا؟	mā hādhā?	What is this?
Who is that?	من ذلك؟	man dālika?	Who is that?
Is this yours?	هل هذا لك؟	hal hādhā laka?	Is this yours?
Is that mine?	هل ذلك لي؟	hal dālika lī?	Is that mine?

Demonstratives with Prepositions

Demonstratives can follow prepositions:

Preposition	+ Demonstrative	Transliteration	Meaning
في (in)	في هذا	fī hādhā	in this
على (on)	على ذلك	3alā dālika	on that
من (from)	من هنا	min hunā	from here
إلى (to)	إلى هناك	ilā hunāka	to there

Here and There

Arabic has specific words for “here” and “there”:

Word	Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning
here	هنا	hunā	here (near)
there	هناك	hunāka	there (far)
from here	من هنا	min hunā	from here
to there	إلى هناك	ilā hunāka	to there

Common Mistakes

1. Using wrong gender:

❌ هذا المرأة (masculine demonstrative for feminine noun)
✅ هذه المرأة (feminine demonstrative for feminine noun)

2. Forgetting definiteness:

❌ هذا رجل كبير
✅ هذا الرجل الكبير (with ال on both noun and adjective)

3. Wrong word order:

❌ الرجل هذا
✅ هذا الرجل (demonstrative before noun)

Cultural Notes

Demonstratives are used in daily conversation for:

Pointing out objects: هذا باب (This is a door)
Clarifying identity: هذا أخي (This is my brother)
Expressing opinions: هذا جميل (This is beautiful)
In religious contexts: هذا جزء (This is a part)

Tip: The هـ in هذا and هذه indicates proximity, while the ذ/ت in ذلك and تلك indicates distance. This pattern is consistent and predictable.