Pronoun

Concept: This and That

Use of ‘this’:

‘This’ is a word used to talk about a person, animal, or thing near us.

1. We used the word ‘this’ to talk about the ball that is very near to the speaker. Since we are referring to one single object (the ball), we use the word ‘this’.

2. Priya is talking to her sister, Sana, who is standing very close to her. Therefore, we used ‘this’ to talk about a singular person.

Let’s look at a few examples where we used ‘this’:

Use of ‘that’:

‘That’ is a word used to talk about a person, animal, or thing far away from us or not near us.

Examples:

1. Here, we used the word ‘that’ to talk about the ball that is far away from the speaker. In the above picture, we are referring to one single object (the ball), that’s why we used ‘that’.

2. Priya is showing her brother, Rahul, who is standing at a distance. Therefore, we used ‘that’ to indicate a singular person.

Let’s look at a few examples where we used ‘that’:

Common Mistakes:

1. Don’t use ‘this’if you want to talk about more than one person, animal, or thing near us.

Examples:

We use ‘this’ only to indicate one person, animal, or thing near us.

2. Don’t use ‘that’ if you want to talk about more than one person, animal, or thing that is far away from us.

Examples:

We use ‘that’ to refer to one person, animal, or thing not near us or far away from us.