Such vs These: Difference and Comparison

The words “such” and “these” are confused with each other due to their nature of supporting a sentence where similar situations are being mentioned.

Key Takeaways

1. “Such” emphasizes the quality or type of a noun, while “these” is a plural demonstrative pronoun that identifies specific items or people.
2. “Such” can be used with singular and plural nouns, whereas “these” is only used with plural nouns.
3. “Such” precedes adjectives to intensify their meaning, while “these” indicates proximity or direct reference to particular items or people.

Such vs These

The difference between such and these is that the former considers events of similar form and nature. At the same time, the latter is used to speak about events similar to a singular subject mentioned in the sentence.

The word “such” is used when discussing a particular group of events or things that share similarities.

The word “these” is used to talk about certain events or situations related to the sentence’s subject.

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Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Such	These
Word class	“Such” exists in many forms of speech, such as – predeterminer, determiner, noun, pronoun, and adjective.	The word “these” is found in the following word classes – Determiner and pronoun.
Origin	First used before the 1000s, during the early Middle English era, and is related to the dutch word “zulk”.	It was first used during the Old English era, before the early 900s, as a derivation from the Old Norse language.
Usage in a sentence	“Such” is used to convey multiple situations or objects that have something in common with each other.	“These” is used to mention other events or objects that are similar to the main subject within the sentence.
Example	“The problem with such companies is that they are resilient when adapting to modern technology.”	“These clothes share a striking resemblance to the ones that I lost four years ago!”
Synonyms	The words related to “such” are – akin, alike, analogous, like, and comparable.	Synonyms of “these” are – “The particular” and “those mentioned above”.

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When to Use Such?

The word “such” was seen to have originated during the Middle English era as early as the 10^th century. The term is closely related to the dutch word “zulk” and derives its meaning from it.

In terms of word class, we see that “such” exists as a–

1. Predeterminer
2. Determiner
3. Noun
4. Pronoun
5. Adjective

The frequent use of the word is seen in instances of emphasising an action or building a relation between events. And with the above-mentioned “parts of speech”, the meaning and usage of “such” mostly remain the same.

As a predeterminer, adjective and determiner, “such”, is used in a sentence to support nouns or noun phrases, to emphasise the subject matter more.

Example –

1. “I’m so glad they released Spiderman this week; it’s such a good movie.”
2. “He is so innocent. The world isn’t a good place for such children.”

Another frequent use of the word “such” is to help interrelate objects, events, or situations that share some similarity or have something in common.

Example –

1. “The amount of oil being spilt by such multinational companies is why we cannot advance further in the world.”
2. “Never let the negativity of judgement affect you; such people just wish to hurt your feelings.”

One can also use “such” to emphasise the truth or fact in a sentence. Here, the word behaves as a noun. Example – “We do not have an office area as such, but we do have a small workstation at home.”

 

When to Use These?

The word “These” was commonly used before the early 900s, deriving from the Old Norse language.

 The word “these” is the plural form of “this”. In terms of word class, we can see that it exists in the following two forms –

1. Determiner
2. Pronoun

When discussing existence as a determiner and pronoun, a primary use would be to talk about multiple events that share something in common with a subject or object already mentioned in the context or sentence.

Example –

1. “The past few days have taught us to take these moments with our families and cherish them as much as possible.”
2. “Each of us is responsible for taking care of these animals and nurturing them as our own.”

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Main Differences Between Such and These

1. “Such” is used to correlate the objects that share something in common, while “these” relates a subject in the sentence with other similar situations.
2. The words similar in meaning to “such” are – akin, alike, analogous, like, and comparable. Words mean the same as “these”  – “The particular” and “those mentioned above”.

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References

1. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/these
2. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/such?s=t

Last Updated : 11 June, 2023