Learning to point out objects with words like "this" and "those" is a major language milestone for young children. While these demonstrative adjectives seem simple, mastering them in space and time requires more than memorizing rules. Parents and educators can use active, real-world practice to help children learn these words.
What Happened
According to an educational guide published by Duolingo, demonstrative adjectives, such as this, that, these, and those, help speakers point to specific people, places, or things. These words change based on the number of nouns and their distance from the speaker. Singular nouns use "this" and "that," while plural nouns use "these" and "those." "This" and "these" refer to items close to the speaker, while "that" and "those" refer to things farther away. Sometimes these words appear without a noun immediately following them. When this happens, they function as demonstrative pronouns, as outlined in Duolingo's grammar resources. While native speakers often use these words automatically, young learners and English language students must practice mapping these terms to physical spaces and moments in time.
The Bigger Picture
For young children, mastering these pointing words is both evolutionary and developmental. According to a study in ResearchGate, demonstratives are universal across human languages, ancient, and closely tied to physical gestures because they coordinate attention between speakers. This means children learn them through active, shared physical experiences rather than worksheets.
Formal grammar lessons are often not the best way to teach these concepts. A study published in Frontiers in Education found that an inductive teaching approach, which relies on active practice, is more effective at helping students learn these expressions than traditional, rule-based lessons. This matches broader writing research. For example, a randomized controlled trial in the Journal of Writing Research tracked over 1,200 primary school pupils and found that explicit grammar instruction had no statistical effect on the quality of children's narrative writing.
Instead, language development relies on physical, sensory, and social environments. A paper in Nordlyd shows that children use pitch and speech cues to grasp word structures. This means children with different sensory inputs, such as those with hearing loss, develop language through different paths. This social and contextual understanding is called pragmatic competence. As we noted when discussing how to help young English learners master adjectives, children learn best when language is tied to physical actions. Research in the International Journal of Library Science and Educational Research confirms that grammatical proficiency does not automatically translate into real-world communication skills, showing that students need context-based practice.
What This Means for Families
For parents and educators, this research suggests replacing worksheets with physical interaction. As we detailed in our guide on helping kids master English adjectives without rigid memorization, real-world context works better than rote drills. When a toddler points to a toy and says "that one," they practice spatial reference in a way that worksheets cannot replicate.
By reinforcing these concepts through everyday activities, such as pointing out distant birds or sorting nearby toys, parents can build their children's vocabulary naturally. This helps children connect the abstract grammar of number and distance to their physical surroundings.
What You Can Do
To practice these skills at home, parents can use physical pointing games with toys or household items. Have your child hold an object and say "this cup," then point to an item across the room and say "that cup." You can also connect these words to time during daily routines. Use "this morning" to talk about today, and "that morning" to refer to past events. Finally, try using inductive modeling instead of correcting grammar mistakes with formal rules. If your child says, "I want those toy," respond naturally with, "Oh, you want those toys? Let's go get them."