This, That, These, Those

This, That, These, Those are called demonstratives and they are used to show the relative distance between the speaker and the noun.

1. Demonstrative Pronouns:

We use this (singular) and these (plural) to refer to something that is here / near.
Examples:
This is my car. (singular)
These are our children. (plural)

We use that (singular) and those (plural) to refer to something that is there / far.
Examples:
That is our house. (singular)
Those are my shoes. (plural)

Note that the verb changes (i.e. singular / plural) depending on the pronoun that you use.

You can also use Demonstrative Pronouns by themselves:
Did you do that?
I’d like to buy these?
Which of those would you like?

2. Demonstrative Adjectives

You can also use demonstratives before a noun. These are called demonstrative adjectives.
The Demonstrative Adjective needs to agree (= be the same form) as the noun.

Examples of demonstrative adjectives:
This party is boring. (singular)
That city is busy. (singular)
These chocolates are delicious. (plural)
Those flowers are beautiful. (plural)

Title: Shopping at the Market

Characters:

• Lily
• Tom

Scene: Lily and Tom are at the local market, shopping for fruits and vegetables.

Lily: (holding an apple) Tom, look at this apple. It’s so red and juicy.

Tom: (pointing to a basket of oranges) Yes, Lily, those oranges over there also look delicious. I like them a lot.

Lily: (picking up a cucumber) And what about these cucumbers? Do we need them for the salad?

Tom: (shaking his head) No, Lily, we already have cucumbers at home. We don’t need those.

Lily: (examining a basket of tomatoes) But we’re out of tomatoes. Are these good?

Tom: (smiling) Those tomatoes look perfect for our salad. Let’s get them.

Lily: (holding a bunch of carrots) What about these carrots? Are they fresh?

Tom: (sniffing them) Yes, these carrots smell fresh and are in good condition. Let’s grab a bunch of those.

Lily: (confused, looking at different types of potatoes) Tom, I can’t decide between these small red potatoes and those big brown ones. Which should we get?

Tom: (thoughtful) Let’s take those big brown potatoes. They’re versatile and great for mashed potatoes.

Lily: (pleased) Sounds good, Tom. I like our choices.