This, that, these and those

this, that, these and those.

• near in distance or time (this, these)
• far in distance or time (that, those)

near                 far

singular          this                  that

plural              these               those

Why do we use 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.

 WARNING:
We don’t say These are John and Michael.
We say This is John and this is Michael.

- to introduce ourselves to begin a conversation on the phone:

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

Why do we use that and those?

We use that (singular) and those (plural):

- to talk about things that are not near us:

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

- We also use that to refer back to something someone said or did:

- 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?

this, these, that, those with nouns

We also use this, these, that and those with nouns to show proximity
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 things that are not near us:

Who lives in that house?
Who are those people?

Warning!

Do not confuse these forms with demonstrative adjectives. They are identical, but a demonstrative pronoun stands alone, while a demonstrative adjective qualifies a noun.

• That smells. (demonstrative pronoun)
• That book is good. (demonstrative adjective + noun)

Normally we use demonstrative pronouns for things only. But we can use them for people when the person is identified. Look at these examples:

• This is Josef speaking. Is that Mary?
• That sounds like John. 

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