οὗτος / αὕτη /τοῦτο

Meaning:

These or this

This one, this person, this thing

They or he or she or it

Demonstrative pronoun.

οὗτος usually refers to something close to the speaker — “this” as opposed to ἐκεῖνος (“that”).

οὗτος → “this one right here”

ἐκεῖνος → “that one over there”

It can refer to:

What is near physically: οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος — “this man” ()

What was just mentioned: καὶ τοῦτο ἐστίν… — “and this is…” ()

What is about to be mentioned: τοῦτο λέγω… — “this I say…” ()

There are a number of idiomatic expressions that involve οὗτος:

ἐν τούτῳ — “in this / by this” (very common in John’s letters), e.g. ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν… — “By this we know…” ()

διὰ τοῦτο — “because of this / therefore”, e.g. διὰ τοῦτο ἦλθεν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου… — “For this reason the Son of Man came…” ()

μετὰ ταῦτα — “after these things”, e.g. μετὰ ταῦτα ἦν ἑορτὴ τῶν Ἰουδαίων — “After these things there was a feast of the Jews” ()

Forms

Form	Gender	Case	Meaning
οὗτος	Masculine	Nominative Singular	this (man/thing)
αὕτη	Feminine	Nominative Singular	this (woman/thing)
τοῦτο	Neuter	Nominative/Accusative Singular	this (thing)

Singular Declension

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative Singular	οὗτος	αὕτη	τοῦτο
Genitive Singular	τούτου	ταύτης	τούτου
Dative Singular	τούτῳ	ταύτῃ	τούτῳ
Accusative Singular	τοῦτον	ταύτην	τοῦτο

Plural Declension

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative Plural	οὗτοι	αὗται	ταῦτα
Genitive Plural	τούτων	τούτων	τούτων
Dative Plural	τούτοις	ταύταις	τούτοις
Accusative Plural	τούτους	ταύτας	ταῦτα