This, That, These, Those

Hook

You are in a shop. You point at a bag in your hand: “How much is this?” You point at shoes across the room: “And those?” Four small words tell people which thing you mean: near or far, one or more than one.

Notice

  • This is my pen. (in my hand: near, one)
  • That is your book. (on the table over there: far, one)
  • These are my shoes. (here: near, more than one)
  • Those are your keys. (over there: far, more than one)
  • What’s this? — It’s a map.
  • Who’s that? — That’s my brother.

Which words go with is? Which go with are?

Rule

One (singular)More than one (plural)
Near (here)this + isthese + are
Far (there)that + isthose + are
  • You can use them alone (This is nice.) or before a noun (This bag is nice. Those apples are red.).
  • Answering: What’s this/that? → It’s a… · What are these/those? → They’re…
  • Introducing people: This is my friend Tom. (not He is my friend Tom).
  • On the phone: Hello, this is Maria.

Watch Out

  • ✗ This are my keys. → ✓ These are my keys.
  • ✗ Those is my car. → ✓ That is my car.
  • ✗ These shoe is new. → ✓ These shoes are new. (plural noun too)
  • ✗ What are those? — It’s grapes. → ✓ They’re grapes.

Practice

  1. ___ is my pen. (in your hand)
  2. ___ are my shoes. (across the room)
  3. ___ is your book. (near you)
  4. ___ are your keys. (on the table, far away)
  5. Correct it: “This are my friends.”
  6. Answer: “What are these?” (apples)
  7. Introduce your sister Lina.
  8. Make plural: “That car is fast.”
Show the answers
  1. This
  2. Those
  3. This
  4. Those
  5. These are my friends.
  6. They’re apples.
  7. This is my sister Lina.
  8. Those cars are fast.

Your Turn

Point at things around you and say sentences with all four words: This is my phone. These are my notebooks. That is a window. Those are… Write four of them down.

Connect

Our Match the Definition game pairs everyday object words with their meanings.

Try our Match the Definition game →

Our Error Correction tool has sentences with mistakes like “This are…”. Can you fix them?

Try Error Correction →

CEFR A1 — Listening/Reading: I can understand familiar words concerning my immediate concrete surroundings.

Azizul Hakim
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Printable worksheet (PDF) Pro

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