This, that – these, those

This, that, these, those

This, that, these and those are demonstratives. We use this, that, these and those to point to people and things. This and that are singular. These and those are plural. We use them as determiners and pronouns.

determiners	pronouns
What’s in this box? That water tastes strange. I might get myself a pair of those shoes.	Come and look at this. That’s a very good idea. Can I have one of these?

This, that, these, those as determiners

Pointing to things

We use this and that with singular and uncountable nouns:

Try to repeat this exercise every morning and evening. (this + singular countable noun)

What does this music make you think of? (this + singular uncountable noun)

I’ve never been to that part of France. (that + singular countable noun)

Can I have some of that juice, please? (that + singular uncountable noun)

We use these and those with plural nouns:

You can use any one of these computers. (these + plural noun)

I need to paint those windows. (those + plural noun)

Time phrases

We often use this with words describing time and dates like morning, afternoon, evening, week, month, year to refer to ‘the one that’s coming’ or ‘the one we’re currently in’:

I’ll be with you some time this evening.

Johan seemed very happy this afternoon.

Ian is in Germany all this week.

This, that, these, those as pronouns

Referring to things or ideas

We normally use this, that, these and those as pronouns to refer to things or ideas:

Put the butter, chocolate and sugar in a saucepan. Heat this over a low flame until it melts.

We’re going to eat first and then go to the film. Are you happy with that? (Are you happy with the idea of eating first, then going to the film?)

[talking about the TV]

Can you turn that off if you’re not watching it?

[talking about shoes]

What colour are those? Black or dark blue. I can’t see.

Referring to people

We can use this and that as pronouns to refer to people when we want to identify ourselves or others, or to ask the identity of other speakers:

Linda, this is my mother, Anne.

Is that your brother over there?

We often do this in telephone calls and in answer-phone messages:

Hello, is that Ken Orm? This is Jane Bromham here.

This and these, that and those: uses

Physical closeness and distance

We use this and these most commonly to point to things and people that are close to the speaker or writer, or things that are happening now:

Shall I use this knife here?

[pointing to something]

Is this what you mean?

I’ll post these letters on my way home.

[pointing to a pile of books]

Do these belong to the Bradshaws?

We use that and those most commonly to point to things and people which are not easy to identify in a situation. They are often more distant from the speaker, and sometimes closer to the listener:

What’s in that bottle over there?

Could you blow out those candles near you?

Sometimes they are not visible to either the speaker or listener:

Budapest! That’s my favourite place!

Emotional distance

We sometimes use this, these, that, those to identify emotional distance. We use this and these to refer to things that we feel positive about, that we are happy to be associated with, or we approve of:

I love these new woollen mobile phone covers that you can get.

We use that and those to create distance:

What are you going to say to that sister of yours?

[talking about a restaurant]

I didn’t like the decoration. It had those awful paintings.

Shared knowledge and new information

We sometimes use that instead of the to refer the listener to shared knowledge, often when we are telling a story or explaining something:

You know that old shop on the corner? Well, they’re going to turn it into a restaurant.

We sometimes use this instead of a/an to refer to something important or recent, or to introduce a new person or thing in a story:

This guy knocked on the door and asked if I wanted new windows.

Then suddenly she pulled out this big pile of papers from her briefcase and threw them on the table.

See also:

• It, this and that in paragraphs
• Pronouns
• Determiners (the, my, some, this)

Substitution with that, those

In formal contexts, we can use that and those as substitutes meaning ‘the one(s)’:

The most important information is that given at the beginning of the manual. (that substitutes for the information)

The methods employed are those familiar to researchers. (more formal than The methods employed are the ones familiar to researchers.)

In formal contexts, especially in academic style, we use that of/those of instead of the one of/the ones of or the … one/the … ones. This is preferred to the possessive X’s one/X’s ones:

The proton has a similar mass to that of a neutron. (preferred to The proton has a similar mass to the neutron’s.)

The emotions in the poems are those of loss and grief.

Not: The emotions in the poem are loss and grief ones.

We normally only use that as a substitute for a thing, not for a person or animal:

A:

Have you met Mr Kelly?

B:

The one who works at the town hall, or his brother?

A:

The one at the town hall.

Not: That who works at the town hall.

We can use those as a substitute for persons, animals or things:

There are sports facilities for guests. Those interested in golf can enjoy our eighteen-hole course.