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Activities: “How to use ‘this,’ ‘that,’ ‘these,’ and ‘those’ in English?”

By: revel arroway
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These activities are part of our English Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:

Activity 1: Using demonstrative adjectives to make descriptions

For each of the following images, write two sentences that describe what you see and use this / that / these / those. Keep it simple, use the verb be for each sentence. I’ve done the first one for you to get you started.

Here are some useful words to help you with your sentences, but you can come up with your own words as well!

Descriptions:

angry, antique, cute, dead, empty, expensive, fat, full, happy, little, modern, new, old, on the table, short, spooky, thick, yellow

Nouns:

book, car, Chihuahua, cup, dog, glass, tennis racket, boy, twin, cat, table, tree

For an extra challenge, try to use here and there in a few of your sentences too!

Example:

A drawing of a man in a red shirt pointing at a snarling chihuahua that is a little way away from him.

  • That dog is angry.

  • That is an angry dog.

  • That little dog over there is angry.

  • That is a little dog.

  • A drawing of a man in a red shirt gesturing to a smiling dog that is close to him.

    Sample answers:
    This happy dog is Alex.
    This little dog is happy.
    This dog is happy.

  • A drawing of a white man in an orange shirt and jeans gesturing to three very thick books sitting on a table right in front of him.

    Sample answers:
    These books are thick.
    These three books are thick.
    These thick books are on the table.

  • A drawing of a man in a red shirt holding a tennis racket.

    Sample answers:
    This tennis racket is new.
    This is my new tennis racket.

  • A drawing of a man in a red shirt pointing at a yellow sports car in the distance. The car is labeled "$76,999.99."

    Sample answers:
    That car is expensive.
    That yellow car is expensive.
    That expensive, yellow car is over there.

  • A drawing of a man in a red shirt gesturing to two glasses of coke at the far end of a long dining table.

    Sample answers:
    Those glasses are full.
    Those glasses over there are full.
    Those full glasses are on the table.

  • A drawing of a man in a red shirt gesturing to an empty glass on a table right next to him.

    Sample answers:
    This glass is blue.
    This blue glass is empty.
    This glass over here is empty.

  • A drawing of a man in a red shirt gesturing to two small, identical boys in the distance. The boys are standing back-to-back, one in blue the other in green.

    Sample answers:
    Those boys are twins.
    Those twins are short.
    Those two boys over there are short.

  • A drawing of a man in a red shirt pointing to a fat gray cat sitting on a folding table across the room.

    Sample answers:
    That cat is fat.
    That fat cat is on the table.

  • A drawing of a man in a red shirt gesturing to a gnarly dead tree that is right next to him.

    Sample answers:
    This tree is dead.
    This dead tree is over here.

  • A drawing of a man in a red shirt pointing to two antique cars on the other side of the parking lot. One car is blue-green and the other is red.

    Sample answers:
    Those cars are antique.
    Those old cars are antique.
    Those old, antique cars are over there.

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