Back-Reference — Reacting and Referring Back with 'That' — English Grammar Exercises
This book? That one? These shoes or those? 52 exercises on near and far, singular and plural, time and fixed expressions.
Back-Reference: Using 'That' to React to What Was Said
One of the most productive uses of English demonstratives is anaphoric back-reference — using that to refer to a piece of information, event, or situation just mentioned by the speaker or a conversational partner. This use is almost exclusively 'that' (not 'this'), because the referred information belongs to the other person's speech or to a past state — both conceptually distant. Common learner errors include using 'this' in reactions ('This is great news!' for someone else's announcement) and using 'it' in contexts where 'that' is idiomatic ('Why is it?' instead of 'Why is that?'). Corpus data suggests that back-reference 'that' is acquired late, with B2+ learners still making substitution errors.
Reactions to Good or Bad News
"I broke my leg." — "I'm sorry to hear that."
"We won the game!" — "That's amazing!"
Follow-Up Questions and Narrative References
"She said she doesn't like you." — "Who told you that?"
The concert was amazing. That was the best night of my life.
He didn't call me back. That really annoyed me.
Common Mistakes
✗ "We're moving." — "Why is it?" → ✓ "Why is that?"
✗ "I passed!" — "This's wonderful!" → ✓ "That's wonderful!"
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between this, that, these, and those?
The four demonstratives divide along two axes: distance and number. 'This' (singular, near) and 'these' (plural, near) refer to things close to the speaker. 'That' (singular, far) and 'those' (plural, far) refer to things away from the speaker. Near and far can be physical — 'this book in my hand' vs 'that building across the river' — or conceptual, as in time references and back-reference to things already said.
When do you use 'this' vs 'that' on the phone?
On the phone, 'this is...' identifies the caller: 'Hello, this is Sarah speaking.' To ask who the other person is, say 'Is that Maria?' — because the other person is experienced as distant. A common learner error is 'That is Dr. Smith calling', which should be 'This is Dr. Smith calling'. The rule: use 'this' to introduce yourself and 'that' to refer to the person on the other end.
What is the difference between 'these days' and 'those days'?
'These days' refers to the present period: 'These days everyone uses a smartphone.' It is equivalent to 'nowadays'. 'Those days' refers to a past period the speaker is looking back on: 'In those days, people wrote letters.' A common mistake is using 'this days' or 'those days' for a present context — neither is correct.
How do demonstratives work with uncountable and plural-only nouns?
Uncountable nouns (information, luggage, news) are grammatically singular and take 'this' or 'that', never 'these' or 'those'. Plural-only nouns (trousers, scissors, glasses) take 'these' or 'those', never 'this' or 'that'. So: 'this information' (not 'these information'), 'these trousers' (not 'this trousers'), 'that luggage' (not 'those luggage').