1. English Grammar
  2. Pronouns
  3. Demonstratives

Demonstratives

Level: beginner

this and these

We use this (singular) and these (plural) as pronouns:

  • to talk about people or things near us:

This is a nice cup of tea.
Whose shoes are these?

  • to introduce people:

This is Janet.
These are my friends John and Michael.

Be careful!

We say, This is John and this is Michael. (NOT These are John and Michael.)
  • to begin a conversation on the phone:

Hello, this is David. Can I speak to Sally?

that and those

We use that (singular) and those (plural) as pronouns to talk about things that are not near us:

What's that?
Those are very expensive shoes.
This is our house, and that's Rebecca's house over there.

Demonstratives

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We also use that to reply to something someone has said:

'Shall we go to the cinema?'  'Yes, that’s a good idea.'
'I've got a new job.'  'That's great.'
'I'm very tired.'  'Why is that?'

Replies with that's 1

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Replies with that's 2

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With nouns

We can also use this, these, that and those with nouns. We use this and these for people or things near us:

We have lived in this house for twenty years.
Have you read all of these books?

and that and those for people or things that are not near us:

Who lives in that house?
Who are those people?

Demonstratives with nouns

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Hello TheMouseofAfterTomorrow,

The meanings of determiners such as this/these and that/those do not change with the formality of the context. Generally, we use that/these (singular/plural) to refer to something which we consider closer to us in some way (physical distance, emotional distance and distance in time) and we use that/those to refer to something which is more distant.

If we are not trying to distinguish one house from another then we use the once it has been introduced, so 'the' would be appropriate in your example.

If we have two houses and we want to distinguish between them then we can use this and that:

I own two houses on this street. This one I inherited from my parents and that one across the road I bought two years ago.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by lolopopo on Sat, 06/01/2018 - 14:12

Permalink
Hey I have a questions. So if I am referring to a situation that happened int he past. Which one do I use? 7th of February, the laboratory. These are the date and location of... OR 7th of February, the laboratory. Those were the data and location of....

Hello lolopopo,

You can use both 'this' or 'that' to refer back to something you just mentioned, with no difference in meaning. We tend to use 'this' more than 'that' when we have more to say about the matter, however. If your sentence merely explains the date and location of an event, then 'those' could be appropriate, but I would probably recommend 'these'. And if you go on to explain even more, then 'these' would also probably be better.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team