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Questions tagged [demonstrative]

Words that indicate which entities the speaker refers to and distinguish those entities from others.

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this one of her uncles

I and a friend of mine are looking at a photo of a group of people, three of whom are our friend Janet's uncles. I say: Janet's uncle looks unwell. My friend says: No, he doesn't. I realize that my ...
azz's user avatar
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2 votes
5 answers
840 views

this batch of honey

Let's say we have a number of batches of honey, each batch consisting of a number of containers). Two of the batches belong to John. One of those two batches is expensive and the other one isn't. ...
azz's user avatar
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12 views

noun + that + prepositional phrase

The rap song "Shook Ones, Part II" by the group "Mobb Deep": Living the life that of diamonds and guns There's numerous ways you can choose to earn funds Am I right that "that&...
Loviii's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
78 views

"I will try to survive till that"

I will try to survive till that. My teacher (native) told me the THAT is not OK - and I have to find the good solution - this site is allowed. Possibly I would formulate on the following way, but I'm ...
babolcs's user avatar
  • 27
0 votes
2 answers
567 views

What's the difference between using 'the' or 'these' in the following sentence?

These apples are red. The apples are red. I think in the second sentence the meaning is that all apples are red, am I right? Also, using 'the' in this example is grammatically correct?
Josenrique's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
66 views

"Don't do it!" or "Don't do that!" [duplicate]

Assuming you're parents that see your young son doing something you don't like, and you want to avoid him to do it. What's of these following ways more natural? Don't do it! or Don't do that!
Virtuous Legend's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
65 views

Why "either' is not a Demonstrative pronoun while "neither" can be one?

Why "either' is not a Demonstrative pronoun while "neither" can be one? I found it from this source that "neither" can be a demonstrative pronoun. So I am curious why "either" can't be? https://www....
W.h. Mithradates Yen's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
58 views

"this unusual instrument" with plural antecedents

The singular noun phrase "this unusual instrument" in the following refers to plural antecedents "them" and "glass harps." Is this practice acceptable in a school essay? Glass harps haven’t ...
Apollyon's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
287 views

in which (year) and in which (city)

Are "year" and "city" optional in the following? John returned to London in 2010, in which (year) he married Joanne. John returned to London, in which (city) he married Joanne. I'd ...
Apollyon's user avatar
  • 5,507
2 votes
1 answer
603 views

Why "have this habit of" instead of "have a habit of"?

If someone's rambling on, I have this habit of saying 'And your point is?'. I have this habit of talking to myself. I have this habit of not being able to control my facial expressions when ...
Juya's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Which one would you choose? "This book" VS "That book" / "These topics" VS "Those topics"

I am aware of the difference between This and that These and those It's easy for me to distinguish which one to use when I talk to someone but I am having a trouble with choosing the right one in ...
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1 vote
1 answer
2k views

"These" or "Those" in an essay?

I'm confused with whether I should use "these" or "those" in the context of writing a paper or report in the specific example below. I don't know how I can do it differently: 1) To detect abnormal ...
PandoraU.U.D's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
107 views

What's the function of "that" in the following sentence?

Notice, that with this meaning, the word is an uncountable noun, so you can only say youth, not youths. (BBC) Does "that" indicate that the whole part afterwards is the objective clause of the verb "...
Zhang Jian's user avatar
26 votes
2 answers
98k views

it VS. this Vs. that

Iv'e never understood what is the difference between the subject pronoun "it" and the demonstratives "this" and "that". To be precise, I understand well the difference between those two ...
Virtuous Legend's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
149 views

What is the structural (positive or negative) answer for "Is this a courgette"?

I know that when answering on an question with a structure of interrogative structure, then there is a short structural answer which based on the tense or the lexical verb that the questioner asked. ...
Virtuous Legend's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
508 views

Demonstrative vs Personal Pronoun, "This is John" vs "I am John"

Why people introduce themselves on phone by saying "This is John" instead of "I am John"? Which one of "this" and "I" or "he/she" is preferable in different circumstances?
ashish7249's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
6k views

This or That person

Today I heard a speaker use the phrase "this person", referring to the subject-person of the story they were telling, and I heard it as (that person). Between the words “this” or “that” in context ...
O_Maina's user avatar
  • 133
12 votes
5 answers
13k views

"The" vs "that"

I understand that "the" and "that" are both used to refer to a specific subject or object. But are there general rules of thumb to explain when we should use "the" and when we should use "that"? ...
stelle's user avatar
  • 251
2 votes
1 answer
66 views

Can we use "that", "those", in a derogative way

Do you have examples of uses of "that" "those", etc... in a derogative way.
Quidam's user avatar
  • 599
6 votes
1 answer
150 views

But not everyone realizes that fact. Vs But not everyone realizes this fact

Small churches aren’t just smaller versions of big churches. They have unique gifts, challenges and methods of operation. But not everyone realizes that fact. Including some small church ...
Gamal Thomas's user avatar
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7 votes
9 answers
4k views

Is "this is questions" ever grammatical?

I know for a fact that you can use plural nouns after "there's", which is an existential construction. I encountered a post on Stack Overflow today which went like this: . . . this is questions. ...
M.A.R.'s user avatar
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33 votes
6 answers
46k views

"One of THOSE days" vs "one of THESE days"

I don't know exactly when we'll go but we really must visit them one of these / one of those days. When should we use "one of these days" and "one of those days"?
Nguyễn Quốc Việt's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
8k views

What differences are between "What's that?" and "What is it?"

What do you imagine when you hear "What's that?" vs. "What is it?"
user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
562 views

Is 'we saw that when S+V, at the same time that S+V' grammatically correct?

We saw that when Chinese warships turned up off the coast of Alaska, within U.S. territorial waters, at the same time that President Obama was on the ground here. quoted from CNN student news ...
InfimumMaximum's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
116 views

Meaning of "I was mad that one year" in a birthday message by Will Smith

I have just read a great post by Will Smith containing that sentence (I was mad that one year) but I do not understand its meaning. Is "That One" similar to "that first"? This was ...
floatingpurr's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
72 views

"Benzodiazepines can impair that experience by.." - could we say "this experience"?

From a news report on Science Daily: "Evidence-based trauma-focused psychotherapies require that patients experience and then master anxiety," Dr. Guina and colleagues write. "Benzodiazepines can ...
CowperKettle's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
439 views

In this sentence, "for one night" vs "for that night"?

Here's a sentence written in my textbook. The food was delicious and the service was briliant, but making my wife the center of attention for one night was the most important 'thing' of all. It ...
jihoon's user avatar
  • 3,688
2 votes
1 answer
410 views

There's "this" boy/girl/guy

Is the phrase "there's this + noun" as in "There's this girl I met yesterday ..." a discourse marker? If not, what is it considered to be in grammar terminology?
learner's user avatar
  • 5,898
3 votes
1 answer
519 views

The most exciting project this/that year was

Suppose we have a list of paragraphs, each describing a company's achievements in a particular year, and in one of these we find: 2009: The most exciting project this year was the construction of a ...
CowperKettle's user avatar
  • 36.4k
1 vote
2 answers
930 views

Demonstratives and abstract nouns

When referring to abstract noun how should I use demonstratives? Abstract nouns do not have a distance from the speaker. For example when should I say "this story/concept/word/name" and when I should ...
Prince Of Persia's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
279 views

Confused about When to Use “these” and “those” [duplicate]

Example #1 This site contains links to books that I read. I recommend these/those books. NOTE: The links are on this site, but not on this page. The links are external links. Should I use these ...
user557108's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

these organizations or those organizations?

Consider a hypothetical quote: Each day we gather information from manufacturers, distributors, Russian and foreign vendors, research centers. The reliability of the sources is ensured by our ...
CowperKettle's user avatar
  • 36.4k