These
/ðiːz/noun
Plural demonstrative pronoun used to point to people or things near the speaker or already mentioned.
Did you know?English these descends from a Proto-Germanic demonstrative system that once marked number, gender, and case far more heavily than modern English does, so this little word is the fossil of a much older grammar of pointing.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*to-
“demonstrative pronoun meaning 'that' or 'the'”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*þaizō
“feminine plural demonstrative 'those'”
Old English
English
þās
“plural demonstrative 'these'”
Middle English
English
thes
“plural demonstrative 'these'”
Modern English
English
these
“plural demonstrative pronoun used for things or people near the speaker or previously mentioned”