A2–B2

Near vs Far — This, That, These, Those — English Grammar Exercises

This book? That one? These shoes or those? 52 exercises on near and far, singular and plural, time and fixed expressions.

Near vs Far: The Core Distance Contrast

The most fundamental use of English demonstratives is spatial: this (singular) and these (plural) refer to things near the speaker; that (singular) and those (plural) refer to things further away. Research on demonstrative acquisition shows that learners acquire the basic near/far contrast early but continue to make proximity confusion errors under communicative pressure — particularly when adverbials like 'here' and 'there' are absent, leaving the speaker to infer distance from context alone. The most common near/far error in learner corpora is using 'those' with objects explicitly described as being near the speaker, such as 'Pass me those scissors here on the table.'

Near: This and These

Use this (singular) or these (plural) when the referent is close — physically in hand, on the desk, or explicitly described with 'here'.

This book on my desk is fascinating.
These flowers in my hand are for you.
Come and look at this! I found it right here.

Far: That and Those

Use that (singular) or those (plural) when the referent is at a distance — across the room, across the street, or described with 'over there'.

Can you see that building across the river?
Look at those birds in the sky!
What are those lights on the hill over there?

Contrasting Both in One Sentence

When both a near and a far referent appear together, the demonstratives signal the contrast directly.

Is this your umbrella here, or is that one by the door yours?
Look at those beautiful mountains.

Common Mistakes

✗ Pass me those scissors here. → ✓ Pass me these scissors here. ('here' = near the speaker)
✗ Look at these clouds over there! → ✓ Look at those clouds over there! ('over there' = far)

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').