Demonstrative adjectives point to a specific noun and distinguish it from other possibilities. They are usually attributive before the noun and agree in gender, number and case with it. In their form they behave like the definite articles, but are highlighted by their demonstrative meaning. For the form and agreement, also adjective declination is central.

Among the most important demonstrative adjectives are dieser, jener, derjenige, solche and derselbe. They inflect and adapt to the noun they accompany just as Adjective placement and agreement do to the noun. The choice of form depends on whether the noun is masculine, feminine or neuter and whether it is singular or plural.

FormForm	GenusGender	NumerusNumber	BeispielExample
dieserthis	maskulin singularmasculine singular		dieser Mannthis man
diesethis / these	feminin singular und pluralfeminine singular and plural		diese Frauthis woman
diesesthis	neutral singularneuter singular		dieses Hausthis house
jenethat / those	feminin singular und pluralfeminine singular and plural		jene Zeitthat time
dasjenigethat very	neutral singularneuter singular		dasjenige Buchthat book

Demonstrative adjectives take on the endings of the definite articles and thus show full agreement with the antecedent noun. The forms depend on case, gender and number and therefore appear in different paradigm sequences. This similarity of form to definite articles also explains why their demonstrative function is often only clear through position and context.

KasusCase	MaskulinMasculine	FemininFeminine	NeutralNeuter	PluralPlural
NominativNominative	dieser Mannthis man	diese Frauthis woman	dieses Hausthis house	diese Leutethese people
AkkusativAccusative	diesen Mannthis man	diese Frauthis woman	dieses Hausthis house	diese Leutethese people
DativDative	diesem Mannthis man	dieser Frauthis woman	diesem Hausthis house	diesen Leutenthese people
GenitivGenitive	dieses Mannesthis man's	dieser Frauthis woman's	dieses Hausesthis house's	dieser Leutethese people's

Attributive: the demonstrative adjective stands directly in front of the noun and narrows it. Pronominally it can replace the noun and then bears the nominal function in the sentence alone. The demonstrative force becomes especially clear when a contrast is built and not the one, but this one is meant. In southern German and Austrian colloquial speech this function is often replaced by der da, die da or das da.

GebrauchUsage	BeschreibungDescription	BeispielExample
attributivattributive	steht vor dem Nomenstands before the noun	dieser Mann kommtthis man comes
pronominalpronominal	ersetzt das Nomenreplaces the noun	Dieser kommt heuteThis one comes today
kontrastivcontrastive	hebt eine Auswahl hervorhighlights a choice	Nicht jener, sondern dieser Weg führt weiterNot that one, but this path leads further
regionalregional	ersetzt die formellere Formreplaces the more formal form	Der da wartet schonThe one there is already waiting

That one (jener) often sounds old-fashioned, literary or formal today and is used less in everyday speech. Such refers to a group or type and aggregates several similar cases. The same (derselbe) marks identity or invariance and shows that exactly the same thing is meant again. The one (derjenige) emphasizes a person or object and is often connected with a following attributive part when exactly one specific unit is meant.

FormForm	FunktionFunction	GebrauchUsage	BeispielExample
jenerjener	distale Bezugnahmedistal reference	wirkt formell oder literarischappears formal or literary	jene Zeit war andersthat time was different
solchesolche	Typ oder GruppeType or group	verweist auf ähnliche Fällerefers to similar cases	solche Fehler sind häufigsuch errors are common
derselbederselbe	IdentitätIdentity	bezeichnet unveränderte Wiederholungrefers to unchanged repetition	ich lese dasselbe Buch erneutI am reading the same book again
derjenigederjenige	HervorhebungEmphasis	markiert eine genau bestimmte Personmarks a precisely specified person	derjenige Mann wartet draußenthe one man waits outside

Demonstrative adjectives decline like the definite articles and therefore align consistently with their antecedent. Attributive they stand before the noun, pronominal they can replace it, and in contrast they foreground the intended selection. Whoever masters the forms, the agreement and the placement can distinguish these words precisely and also understand them as a basis for demonstrative pronouns.