English A1 · this, that, these, those
Inglés A1 Tema 3 5:05 Narración en inglés · Subtítulos en inglés + 中文 quemados en pantalla
Capítulos
Transcripción
Chinese has zhe and na, and English has the same pair: this and that. You are halfway done before you begin. The only new machinery is the plural pair, these and those, where the vowel stretches with the distance. The memory hook: this and these are short words for things you can almost touch; that and those carry a long, far-away o for far-away things. Today we add one plural and one phone call.
With one thing, the choice is only about distance. Near, in your hand, beside you: this is my pen. Far, across the room, over there: that is our school. Use the words before a noun, this book, that boy, or alone as the subject: this is heavy, that smells good. And a small dignity rule: pointing at your own lunch and saying that is a small tragedy for the lunch. If you can touch it, it is this.
On the phone, English flips the pointing at the speaker. Hi, this is Lin means I am Lin, and asking who is calling is who is that. The person far from you is that, even when they live inside your phone. Never open a call with I am Lin; that is how a ghost introduces itself. Small phrase, huge first impression.
Pause and choose. This is my ruler. Touching distance means this, and one ruler keeps the pointer singular. That points across the room, where your ruler is not. These is the plural costume with a singular noun, a mismatch the noun will never forgive.
More than one thing, and the vowel stretches. This becomes these, that becomes those. Zhexie shu is these books; naxie is those. Chinese keeps the same pair and marks the plural only on the measure word; English changes the pointing word itself. And the pair must match the noun: these books, never these book. For the ear: this has a short i, these a long ee. Say this ship and these sheep aloud. If your sheep sound like a ship, your listener will be briefly confused but politely silent.
Pause and choose. Those are mountains. Far away pushes you into the that-family, and plural chooses those. Notice the free clue: the verb are already told you the answer is plural, so this and that were out before distance even mattered. The verb is a witness; listen to it.
The same near and far idea works for time. This pulls time close: this week, this morning, this year, the period you are standing inside. That pushes time away: that day, that summer, that night, a moment you look back at. So this is a great party is said inside the party, ideally not while leaving, and that was a great party belongs to the morning after. Finished means far; far means that.
A question with this does not get an answer with this. What is this? It is a stapler. English points once with this and then switches to it; answering this is a stapler is understandable, but it sounds like a game show. And one more repair: to ask about a word, say what does this word mean, not this is meaning what. The pointing word is not a verb; it points, and pointing is a full-time job.
Pause and choose. These are my books. The plural pointer takes the plural verb: these are, those are. These is belongs to the same bin as they is, the bin from topic one that we do not open again. Pointer and verb, plural together or not at all.
Walk around the room and narrate your life like a nature documentary. Touch things: this is my desk, these are my books. Point far: that is the door, those are the windows. Add honesty: this is my phone, and these are my excuses for looking at it. Then call a classmate and open with hi, this is, and your name. Near this, far that. Your hands will teach your mouth faster than any table can.
Pause for four checks. In your hand, this; across the room, that. Many and far, those are mountains, and the verb are is the witness that gave the plural away. What is this gets it is a stapler, because English points once and then relaxes into it. And on the phone, hi, this is Lin; never I am Lin, unless you are a ghost. Next topic: a, an, and the plurals, the small words Chinese manages without.