Grammar Practice in Context - David Bolton, Noel Goodey 1997

67 Demonstratives: this, that, these, those

Quick reference

• We use this + a singular noun and these + a plural noun for things near the speaker. Mmm! This soup tastes good. Ouch! These shoes are too small for me.

• We use that + a singular noun and those + a plural noun for things further away.

Who’s that girl over there? Those clothes you ’re wearing are dirty.

• We use this and these when we talk about a present situation or something near in time.

I’m very busy these days. I’ll see you this afternoon.

• We use that and those when we talk about something further away in time.

That film was good; I’d like to see it again. In those days people didn’t have cars.

• We can also use that to refer back to a subject or an idea that’s already been mentioned. Let’s go for a walk. - That’s a good idea.

• Note that this, these, that, those can be used on their own as pronouns.

This seat’s mine. (adjective/determiner) This is my seat, (pronoun)

• On the telephone, in British English, we use this to refer to ourselves and that to refer to the other speaker. (In American English we use this for both.)

Hello. Who’s that? - This is Andrew.

1 Complete this conversation in a clothes shop with this, that, these or those.

’(1) ... jeans are a bit tight. What size are they?’

’They’re a 32 inch waist.’

’What’s (2) ... in centimetres?’

’(3) ... 81 centimetres.’

’Are (4) ... jeans over there a bigger size?’

’Yes, (5) ... are 34 inch waist.’

’Can I try them on, please?’

’Yes, (6) ... fitting room here is free.’

2 Complete this telephone conversation with this, these, that or those.

Tim: Hello? Who’s (1) ...?

Rachel: (2) ... is Rachel. Um, what are you doing (3) ... evening?

Tim: I’m busy (4) ... evening.

Rachel: You’re always busy (5)...... ... days.

Tim: No, (6) ... not true. I’m just busy (7) ... evening, (8) ... ’s all.

Rachel: Well, how about next Tuesday?

Tim: (9) ... ’s difficult. I don’t know what I’m doing (10) ... evening.

Rachel: You’ve changed, Tim. We used to go out together a lot. In (11) ... days you were always free to see me.

Tim: Um, (12) ... isn’t easy for me Rachel, but there’s something I must tell you. I met another girl (13) ... week.

Rachel: Oh, I see.

3 Various people are eating in a restaurant. Complete the short dialogues in the speech bubbles, using this, that, these and those.

4 Imagine you have just arrived at a party. You know most of the people there but the person you are with does not know them. Write a dialogue in which you use this, that, these and those a number of times. Check your dialogue with a teacher.

Examples: This is Camilla. And that girl over there is Laura.