ELLLO - Beginner English - A1 - Be Verbs

Beginner English Grammar (A1) Lesson 12 of 25

This, That, These, Those as Pronouns

Hear four conversations using this, that, these, and those as pronouns.

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Script
Grammar
Quiz
Puzzle

Conversation 1

Man: I like your family photos. Who is this?
Woman: That is my dad. He is a doctor.
Man: Wow. He is very tall.
Woman: Yes, he is.
Man: Who is this? Is this your mom?
Woman: Yes, that is my mom.
Man: In this picture, they are so young.
Woman: Yes, they are. They are both 25 years old in that picture.
Man: How old are they now?
Woman: They are both 60.
Man: Wow! This is 35 years ago?
Woman: Yes, it is! Time flies.

Conversation 2

Man: Who are these people?
Woman: That is my husband. In this picture, he is at work.
Man: Is he a fireman?
Woman: Yes, he is. And this is my daughter.
Man: Who is the boy with your daughter? Is that your son?
Woman: No, that is her friend. She is at school.
Man: Wow, what a nice picture. How old is she?
Woman: She is nine.
Man: She is very cute.
Woman: Yes, she is cute!

Conversation 3

Man: Who are the people in this picture?
Woman: That is my older sister. She is a pilot.
Man: Who is the man?
Woman: That is her husband. He is a pilot too.
Man: I see. What about this picture? Who is this?
Woman: That is my younger brother. He is a football coach.
Man: Who is the woman? Is that his wife?
Woman: No, that is his girlfriend. She is a teacher.
Man: Where are they?
Woman: They are at work. That is their school. It is not far from here.
Man: Wow. Nice couple!

Conversation 4

Man: And who are these people?
Woman: Those are my grandparents.
Man: Who are the children?
Woman: They are my cousins. That is my aunt's son, and my uncle's daughter.
Man: Where are they?
Woman: That is their farm. They have sheep, cows, and chickens.
Man: Wow, those are big cows.
Woman: Yes, the cows are very big.
Man: What a nice place!
Woman: Yeah, it's fun there! I go there often with my daughter.

This, That, These, and Those as Pronouns

Point 1: The words this, that, these, and those can be a determiner before a noun, or a pronoun for nouns.

I like this soup.
1. I like this.
That plan sounds fun.
1. That sounds fun.
These shirts are on sale.
1. These are on sale.
Those pants look good on you.
1. Those look good on you.

Point 2: We use this, that, these, and those when introducing people, places, or things.

This is my wife.
That is my desk over there.
These are grandchildren.
Those are my old golf clubs.

Point 3: The words this, that, these, and those can be subject pronouns.

This is fun.
That is crazy.
These are delicious.
Those are really old.

Point 4: The words this, that, these, and those can be object pronouns.

I just bought this.
Don't do that!
Where did you get these?
Please put those away.

Point 5: The words this and that are similar to 'it' because they can refer to a situation. They are called a dummy subject.

This is fun.
That is cool.
That is sad.
That is not true.

Point 6: The words this, that, these, and those are used based on number and location.

This is my wife. (one, near)
That is my brother over there. (one, not near)
These are grandchildren. (more than one, near)
Those are my old books. (more than one, not near)

Point 7: After using this, that, these, and those to introduce something, we use subject and object pronouns to refer to them.