How to use Russian demonstrative pronouns and adjectives?

Demonstratives are words like “this” or “that,” which are used to point to specific things, people, ideas, or places. Demonstrative adjectives are used before , while demonstrative pronouns stand alone. Let’s demonstrate! (pun intended).

• demonstrative adjectivenoun

  Они живут в этом доме, а мы живём в том доме через дорогу.

  anEE zheevOOt v Etam dOmye a my zheevYOm v tom dOmye chYEryes darOgoo

  We live in this house, and they live in that house across the street.

• demonstrative pronoun

  Мне нравится это больше, чем то.

  mnye nrAveetsa Eta bOlshye chem to

  I like this more than that.

In this post, we’ll cover the forms of the Russian demonstrative pronouns and adjectives and how to use them. Ready to get started? Let’s go!

Demonstrative words typically “point to” things, people, or places, while expressing something about how far away they are from the speaker.

Like English, Russian has two types of demonstrative words:

• Nearer to the speaker (physically or metaphorically)

  • Мне нравятся эти туфли.

    mnYE nrAvyatsa Etee tOOflee

    I like these shoes.

  • Я поеду в Россию в этом году.

    ya paYEdoo v rasEEyu v Etam gadOO

    I’m going to Russia this year.

• Further away from the speaker (physically or metaphorically)

  • Мне понравились те туфли больше, чем эти.

    mnye panrAveelees te tOOflee bOlshye chyem Etee

    I liked those shoes better than these.

  • Обучение в том году было сто сорок тысяч в год.

    aboochYEneeye v Etam gadOO bYla sto sOrak tYseech v got

    Tuition was one hundred forty thousand last year.

    lit. in that year

However, unlike “this” and “that” in English, many Russian demonstrative words agree with nouns in gender, number, and case.

The Russian demonstrative pronouns and adjectives are provided in the table below.

The forms in the table above are in the . However, demonstrative words in Russian often change their forms, depending on their , , and . To see more forms in other cases, refer to the declension chart at the bottom of this post.

In addition to the classic uses of demonstrative words which we have seen above, there are a few other contexts where you will use demonstrative words in Russian.

• When you introduce a person or object for the first time:

  Это Марк

  Eta mark

  This is Mark.

  Это марки

  Eta mArkee

  These are stamps.

  Important

  In this context, это[Eta](this) does not change its form! Regardless of the gender and number of the noun, you can only use the form это.

• In expressions such as “That’s great!” or “This is awesome!”

  While in English you often use “that” in these expressions, in Russian we only use это[Eta](this):

  Это круто!

  Eta krOOta

  This is cool!

  Это офигительно!

  Eta afeegEEteelna

  That’s dope!

• In some contexts in which you would use “it” in English, in Russian you will usually use это[Eta](this):

  Мы знали это.

  my znAlee Eta

  We knew it.

• For coherence, to avoid repetition, or to refer to what’s already been mentioned or will be mentioned:

  Он прожил в России 20 лет и очень любит эту страну.

  on prazhEEL v rasEEi dvAtsat lyet ee Ochyen lYUbeet Etoo stranOO

  He has lived in Russia for 20 years and loves this country a lot.

Demonstrative words are often used with particles for emphasis.

• The demonstrative word это[Eta](this) is often used with the particle вот[vot](here).

  Смотри, вот эта девочка с нами учится.

  SmatrEE vot Eta dYEvachka s nAmee OOcheetsa

  Look, this girl is in class with us.

• The demonstrative word то[to](that) is often used with the particle вон[von](there).

  Можно вон тот столик?

  mOzhna von tot stOleek

  Can we have that table over there?

There are some demonstrative words in Russian that are old-fashioned, such as сей[syey](this) or оный[Onyi](that). These are not used in everyday speech, but are still used in certain contexts, especially religious. For example, the following is an example from Exodus (a book in the Hebrew Bible).

Сей[syey](this) is also used in some expressions that are commonly used today:

In this post, we talked about how demonstrative words (both pronouns and adjectives) are formed and used. Here’s a summary of what we talked about:

• As in English, these words are used to point to people, objects, and places in space and time.

• While in English these words agree with nouns only in number (this/that vs these/those), in Russian, they agree with nouns in number, gender, and case except for when used in constructions such as “this is … / these are …”

• Demonstrative words are often used with particles вот[vot] and вон[von] for emphasis, which roughly translate to “here” and “there.”

• Old-fashioned demonstratives сей[syey](this) and оный[Onyi](that) are still used in religious contexts and some set expressions.

Now, it’s finally time to practice what we have discussed, by downloading these exercises on Russian demonstrative pronouns!