Basic English Grammar: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE

A1–A2PronounsMarch 15, 2026

Transcript

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Hi, my name is Rebecca and in today's lesson we're going to talk about four commonly confused

words in English and they are this, that, these and those.

Alright?

Many students aren't sure exactly how to use them and I hope after this lesson you'll have

a much better understanding exactly how to use these words, ok?

Now I've drawn something on the board that I believe will help you to understand.

The reason that these words are a little bit confusing is because when you use them you

have to take two factors into account.

The first is you have to decide whether the thing you're talking about is singular or

plural.

Alright?

And the other thing you have to take into account is whether the thing you're talking

about is near or far.

So you can decide based on these two factors, ok?

So let's look at it.

If something is near you and it's, there's only one of that item, then you will say "this

cake" for example.

Right?

You see the man, the cake is near him, so he's talking about this cake, "I like this

cake".

In the second example, the items are still near him but there are several of them, so

he says "I like these cakes", correct?

Because there's more than one, we're saying "these" and we're saying "these" also because

the items are here, or near him.

Alright?

The second example, if something is far away, now far is relative, ok?

Far doesn't have to mean on the other side of the planet.

Far just has to mean whatever you consider to be far.

So near might be here and far might be there, alright?

Another way to tell is if you have to point to it, then usually it's considered far, alright?

If we point but it's really close, then we can say here.

So let's look at this one, you can see the cake is far away from him, so he says "I like

that cake".

Here the cakes are far away from him, so he says "I like those cakes", alright?

So again, "this" and "these" are for things that are close to you, "that" and "those"

for things that are far away from you, alright?

And "this" and "that" for singular items, "these" and "those" for plural items, ok?

That's the first point.

Second point.

When we talk about items that come in pairs, we always have to use the plural, alright?

So you cannot say "that jeans", you can only say "those jeans", "those" or "these",

ok?

"These" or "those" depending on if they're close to you, but it has to be the plural

version.

Many people make a mistake and they say "I like that jeans".

You can say "that pair of jeans", that's ok, then it's singular, but if you don't

use the word "pair", then for all of these examples which I'm going to give you, you

need to use the plural form.

"Those jeans", "those sunglasses", "these shoes", "these pajamas", "I like those

earrings", "you look nice in those pants", right?

Make sure you're using the plural whenever you use these items that come in pairs, alright?

Otherwise, make sure you say "a pair of jeans", "I like that pair of jeans", "I

like that pair of sunglasses" and so on, ok?

Another point.

Sometimes when students write essays, I see that they're not sure whether to use "this"

or "that".

So how do you decide?

Well, one way is we use "this" and "these" for things which are happening now.

So for example, if you are in a restaurant, you might say to your friend "I like this

food".

You're saying "this food" because you're eating now, the situation is happening to

you right now, ok?

Let's say you leave the restaurant and you're walking away from the restaurant and you comment

to your friend "I really liked that food".

Now the situation is over.

When things are finished, we usually say "that" or "those", ok?

So let's give another example, let's say you're at a concert and you might say "I

really like this concert", right?

Or "this concert is great" while you're actually there or when it's just dirty.

When it's over, you could say "that concert was great".

Now it's finished, now it's over, so you say "that".

Same with "these" or "those", ok?

You could say "these musicians are great", "those musicians were great", alright?

And the last way in which we use "this", "that", "these" and "those" is when

we're making introductions.

It could be on the phone, when you call somebody, you say "hi, this is Rebecca speaking",

right?

Well, I say that, not you, you say your name.

Or you could introduce someone, right?

"I'd like you to meet John", well you could say something like "this is my brother

John", "this is my sister Mary", right?

That's the way we make introductions using "this".

Now if your relative or your friend is far away, you could say "that's my friend John",

"that's my girlfriend Mary", ok?

Like that.

Those kind of introductions could also be made.

So these are the four points to keep in mind regarding "this", "that", "these"

and "those".

And I hope you have enjoyed this lesson very much and if you'd like to do some practice,

which I think is worthwhile, especially because they can be confusing, please go to our website

www.engvid.com, you'll see a quiz on this item and also on many other topics in English,

ok?

Thanks for watching, good luck with your English, bye for now.

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Learn how to use demonstrative pronouns and adjectives: this, that, these, and those.

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