Lets say I am at a table with my friend across from me and he takes out his phone and puts it on the table. And the phone is the only phone on the table. How do I refer to it: with it or that? For example:
Is it your phone?
Is that your phone?
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Sign up to join this communityThe dictionary definition of "it" is:
used to refer to a thing previously mentioned or easily identified.
So, in asking whether to use "it" you need to ask - has the phone been identified?
You could begin by asking "Is that your phone?", then it is clear you are talking about that specific phone. Follow-up questions could then use "it", for example, "how long have you had it?"
There may be ways you could skip straight to "it" indirectly, or even non-verbally. You could nod at the phone and ask "is it yours?", or if either you or the other party referred to the phone in some way without using this or that, for example:
Friend: I've got something to show you. [draws phone out of pocket]
You: Wow! Is it yours?