Using This, These, That, Those and It

Today we are going to learn some basic grammar for English beginners. Using this, these, that, those and it is pretty easy. So let's get started!

Using This, These, That, Those and It

This (singular) and These (plural)

We use this and these to indicate the things that are closed to us, and generally when we hold the things.

Examples:

This is my comic book.

This is my smartphone.

These are my comic books.

These are my smartphones.

That (singular) and Those (plural)

On the contrary, we use that and those to point the things that are far or we don't hold the things at the time we are talking about.

Examples:

That is your picture.

That is your bag.

Those are your pictures.

Those are your bags.

It (singular)

Similarly, we can use it instead of that to show the things that are not closed even when we don't know where they are. If the things are more than one, we use those or they (animals/persons).

Examples:

It is a helicopter.

It is a sports car.

It is a Persian cat.

Those are helicopters.

Those are sports cars.

They are Persian cats.

Abbreviations:

This is - This's (rarely abbreviated)

These are - These're (rarely abbreviated)

That is - That's (frequently abbreviated)

Those are - Those're (rarely abbreviated)

It is - It's (frequently abbreviated)

They are - They're (frequently abbreviated)

You have learned this lesson perfectly and I am sure you already know better about this-those-that-those-and-it  usage. Do you want exercises? Here you go!

Exercises

1) _____ is an elephant. (far)

    a. this
    b. it
    Answerab


2) _____ a plane. (far)
    a. this
    b. that
    Answerab


3) _____ Julia's bicycle. (held)
    a. it
    b. this
    Answerab


4) _____ are my father's birds. (very near)
    a. those
    b. these
    Answerab


5) _____ are kangaroos. (far)
    a. these
    b. those
    Answerab


6) _____ are football players. (unspecified)
    a. those
    b. they
    Answerab