Demonstratives

οὗτος and ἐκεῖνος

Demonstratives point at something: οὗτος ('this') points to what is near the speaker, and ἐκεῖνος ('that') points to what is farther away. They decline like adjectives and agree with their noun in gender, case, and number.

The declension of οὗτος has a sneaky pattern: forms begin with either a rough breathing (οὗτος, αὕτη) or a τ (τοῦτο, ταῦτα), and the τ appears exactly where the definite article also has a τ (τό, τά, τούς, τάς). If you know the article, you can predict the demonstrative's first letter.

Learn the vowel pattern with each group: feminine singular forms such as αὕτη and ταύτης have αυ, as does neuter plural ταῦτα; masculine forms such as οὗτος and τούτου have ου. The genitive plural τούτων is the same for every gender. Use the chart rather than trying to predict every vowel from the last letter.

• οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο — this (masc/fem/neut nominative)
• ταῦτα — these things (neuter plural, τ like the article τά)

Position and use

Here is the surprise: a demonstrative modifying a noun stands in predicate position — outside the article-noun group — yet it is translated attributively. οὗτος ὁ λόγος looks like it should mean 'this is the word', but it actually means 'this word'. The predicate position is simply where demonstratives live; it does not make a statement the way it does with ordinary adjectives.

When a demonstrative stands alone, with no noun, it works as a pronoun: οὗτος is 'this man', αὕτη 'this woman', τοῦτο 'this thing', and neuter plural ταῦτα is the very common 'these things'. μετὰ ταῦτα ('after these things') is a favorite phrase of New Testament narrative.

• οὗτος ὁ λόγος — this word (not 'this is the word')
• μετὰ ταῦτα — after these things (demonstrative as pronoun)

Vocabulary (12)

οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο

this; (pl.) these

ἐκεῖνος, -η, -ο

that; (pl.) those

ὧδε

here

ἐκεῖ

there

οὕτως

thus, so, in this way

ἀμήν

truly, so be it, amen

πάλιν

again, once more

κόσμος, ὁ

world, universe

καιρός, ὁ

time, season, opportunity

τόπος, ὁ

place, region

χρόνος, ὁ

time

πρόσωπον, τό

face, countenance