This or That? These or Those? (1 Viewer)

[Steeve Bergeron]

My first language is French, and my English isn't perfect. I'm always having a hard time choosing between this or that, these or those.

This desk. That desk. These people. Those people.

What's the difference?

 

[Gui A]

Relative location, I think...

'This' is for things that are close to you, 'That' is a bit further away.

This desk (here) is nice, but that desk (over there) is nicer.

It's basically the same with with These and Those. Respectively, they're the plural forms.

At least that's how I think about it. I could always be wrong.

 

[BrianB]

This desk (here). These people (here).

That desk (over there). Those people (over there).

I'm unsure of the correct grammatical term for this/that, but the sentence fragments above basically give you the idea of their use/meaning.

 

[Steeve Bergeron]

I see. Thanks a lot for the explanation!