DEMOSTRATIVES:

SINGULAR: THIS/THAT.

What are demonstratives?

Demonstratives are words that show which person or thing is being referred to. In the sentence:

'This is my brother',

'this' is a demonstrative

The demonstratives in English are this, that, these, and those

Demonstrative pronouns vs demonstrative adjectives

A distinction must be made between demonstrative adjectives (or demonstrative determiners)

and demonstrative pronouns (or independent demonstratives).

A demonstrative adjective modifies a noun:

This apple is good. I like those houses. (This modifies 'apple' and those modifies 'houses')

A demonstrative pronoun stands on its own, replacing rather than modifying a noun:

This is good. I like those. (This and those don't modify any nouns they stand alone and replace

other nouns)

Use of demonstratives

Demonstratives differ according to:

  distance: near or far,

 or number: singular or plural.

Here are the main distinctions:

 This modifies or refers to singular nouns that are near to the speaker.

 That modifies or refers to singular nouns that are far from the speaker.

 These modifies or refers to plural nouns that are near to the speaker.

 Those modifies or refers to plural nouns that are far from the speaker.

Demonstratives Singular Plural Near Far

This - -

That - -

These - -

Those - -

• This: este.

Se utiliza para referirse a un objeto cercano singular y que están cerca del hablante.

– This book is mine.

• That: ese/aquel.

Se utiliza para indicar un objeto singular, ubicado a cierta distancia.

– Can you pass me that dictionary over there?

If you are talking about something close to you, use 'this' and 'these'.

This is my pen.

The pen is close to you.

Are these books yours?

The books are close to you.

If you are talking about something farther away, use 'that' and 'those'.

That is my house.

The house is down the street.

I like those flowers.

The flowers are over there.

For small objects and people, use 'this' and 'these' if they are close enough for you touch. Use

'that' and 'those' if you can point to the object or person.

Distance is not just physical distance. We can use 'this', 'that', 'these', and 'those' to show distance

in time.

I like this film.

I am watching the film now. It is close in time, so we use 'this'.

I liked that film.

I watched the film last week. It is far away in time, so we use 'that'.
 DEMOSTRATIVES.

PLURAL: THOSE/THESE.

Demonstratives relate a noun. We use a different demonstrative depending on whether the noun

is singular or plural.

If the noun is singular we use 'this' and 'that'.

This pen

You are talking about one pen.

That house

You are talking about one house.

If the noun is plural we use 'these' and 'those'.

Those pens

You are talking about many pens.

Those houses

You are talking about many houses.

This vs. that

The singular demonstrative pronouns are this and that.

This is used to point out something near to the speaker in space or time:
 I brought this from home.

That indicates something more distant:

 My memory stick? I forgot that at home.

These and those

The demonstrative pronouns have plural forms, used to replace a plural noun. The plural

of this is these:

 I’ll take these. They’re perfect!

The plural of that is those:

 Those are chameleons.

Demonstrative adjectives

The demonstrative pronouns can act as demonstrative adjectives when placed before a noun:

 This house is my grandmother’s.

 That car belongs to Joe.

 I’ll take these sandals.

 Those chameleons look a little off-colour; are they well?

 WH-QUESTIONS WITH CONTABLES / UNCONTABLES NOUNS.

Es importante distinguir los nombres contables e incontables en inglés, ya que implican el uso de

diferentes determinantes y verbos.

NOMBRES CONTABLES

Los nombres contables se refieren a cosas que podemos contar utilizando números. Tienen una

forma para el singular y otra para el plural. El singular puede emplear el determinante "a" o "an".

Para preguntar por la cantidad de un nombre contable, utilizamos "How many?" con el nombre

contable en plural.

Singular Plural

one dog two dogs

one horse two horses

one man two men

one idea two ideas

one shop two shops

EJEMPLOS

 She has three dogs.

 I own a house.

 I would like two books please.

  How many friends do you have?

NOMBRES INCONTABLES

Los nombres incontables se refieren a cosas que no podemos contar. Pueden identificar ideas o

cualidades abstractas y objetos físicos que son demasiado pequeños o amorfos como para

contarlos (líquidos, sustancias en polvo, gases, etc.). Los nombres incontables llevan el verbo en

singular. De manera general, no tienen forma plural.

EJEMPLOS

 tea

 sugar

 water

 air

 rice

 knowledge

 beauty

 anger

 fear

 love
  money

 research

 safety

 evidence

No podemos usar a/an con estos nombres. Para expresar una cantidad de un nombre incontable,

usamos palabras o expresiones como some, a lot of, much, a bit of, a great deal of , o unidades de

medida como a cup of, a bag of, 1kg of, 1L of, a handful of, a pinch of, an hour of, a day of. Para

preguntar por la cantidad de un nombre incontable utilizamos "How much?"

EJEMPLOS

 There has been a lot of research into the causes of this disease.

 He gave me a great deal of advice before my interview.

 Can you give me some information about uncountable nouns?

 He did not have much sugar left.

 Measure 1 cup of water, 300g of flour, and 1 teaspoon of salt.

 How much rice do you want?

NOTA IMPORTANTE
Algunos nombre son contables en otros idiomas e incontables en inglés. En estos casos, es

preciso seguir las reglas que se refieren a los nombres incontables. Los más corrientes son:

accommodation, advice, baggage, behavior, bread, furniture, information, luggage, news,

progress, traffic, travel, trouble, weather, work

EJEMPLOS

 I would like to give you some advice.

 How much bread should I bring?

 I didn't make much progress today.

 This looks like a lot of trouble to me.

 We did an hour of work yesterday.

Tenga cuidado con el nombre hair: en principio, es incontable en inglés y no se usa en plural.

Únicamente se considera contable cuando se refiere a cabellos o pelos individuales.

EJEMPLOS

 She has long blond hair.

 The child's hair was curly.

 I washed my hair yesterday.

 My father is getting a few grey hairs now. (refers to individual hairs)

 I found a hair in my soup! (refers to a single strand of hair)
CONVERSATIONS TIME USING THE TOPICS

In order to improve your language skills, your conversation with language partners should be as

diverse as possible. This way you can acquire a broad vocabulary and learn all the different

sentence structures in a language. Below you can find some suggestions for conversation topics

that would guide you to achieve this.

Getting acquainted

After the initial introductions, ask your conversation partner why they are learning your native

language, for how long and how they have been learning it, how often and in what situations

they speak it and to describe their first speaking encounter with a native speaker. Ask them in

which area of the city they live and if they like it. Now that you have broken the ice, you can

both talk about what you do and how you enjoy your spare time.

Comparing

An interesting aspect of getting to know somebody from another country, it's to learn about their

culture. One way to do this is to compare the differences between the two countries, such as pace

of life, type of jobs, quality of life, cuisine, drinking habits, how people spend their spare time,

ethnic makeup, social structure, climate, topography, educational system, ... If you are talking to

a foreigner, you can ask them how their lifestyle is changing as a result of the new environment

and how they feel about it.

Traveling
Keen language learners are often also keen travelers. Ask your conversation partner if they like

traveling, what are the most interesting places they have been to, what they think are the best

holiday destinations, what are their country's most popular tourist attractions, if they prefer

traveling on their own or taking a package tour, what they miss most when they are away from

home, if they are planning to travel shortly. Ask them if they have ever met anyone interesting

while on a journey or if they have ever come across any unusual food or drink.

Hypothetical Situations

One way to practice grammar is to talk about hypothetical situations. While this is not a topic in

itself, you can always ask hypothetical questions in most topics of conversation. Not only would

this spice up your conversation, but it would also be a good way to practice some difficult verb

tenses. Take, for example, the topics above. If you and your language partner are talking about

your jobs, you can ask: "If you had the choice of doing any job, what would it be?" If you are

talking about your language partner country's economical and political problems, you can ask:

"If you were the president, what would you do first?" If the topic of conversation is travelling,

you can ask: "If you had to choose a country to live in for the rest of your life, which one would

you choose?" The possibilities are limited only by your imagination!

Music

This is without a doubt a much loved topic and you should make the most of it. Ask your

conversation partner what their favorite group / singer / radio station / type of music are. Ask

them when and how often they listen to music, if they often go to live concerts, if certain music

brings memories to their mind, if there is any kind of music they can't stand, if they play any
musical instruments, if they can sing, if they have ever sung karaoke, if they know the lyrics of a

song in their practicing language. If you are talking to a foreigner you can ask who the most

popular singers in their country are and if they can now listen to them on the radio.

Expressing your opinion

One way to get a good command of a language is being able to express your opinion about any

topic. As with hypothetical questions, expressing your opinion will enrich and enliven the

conversation, however do not be a know-it-all, but respect the opinion of your conversation

partner and try to keep an open mind if you disagree with them. You can ask an opinion on

nearly everything. Take, for example, music. You can ask your conversation partner how their

opinion of good music has changed over their lifetime, if they consider CDs to be expensive or

what they think about downloading free MP3s from the internet. Be extra careful when talking

about religion and politics, as people tend to get quite passionate about them.

Have you ever ...?

Another way to start an interesting topic, is to ask the "Have you ever ...?" question. Here are

some examples:

 Have you ever been on TV?

 Have you ever sung in public?

 Have you ever dyed your hair blond?

 Have you ever eaten frogs' legs?

 Have you ever received a present that you really hated?

 Have you ever walked into a lamppost?

 Have you ever cooked a meal by yourself for more than 15 people?

 Have you ever fallen or stumbled in front of others?

 Have you done volunteer work?

 Have you ever free-climbed a tree?

 Have you ever had a close relative who lived to over 100?

 Have you ever ridden a horse?

 Have you ever tried any extreme sports?

 Have you ever seen a car accident?

 Have you ever driven a sports car?

 have you ever been mugged?

 Have you ever broken a bone?

 Have you ever cheated on an exam?

  Have you ever fallen in love at first sight?

 Have you ever met a celebrity?

 Have you ever slept in a tent?

Other topics

Ordering food, describing a person, shopping, clothes and fashion, money, celebrities, gossip,

food & eating, meeting people, sports, marriage, children, education, books, computers, science

and technology, annoying things.

 TEADING TIME YES / NO QUESTIONS

Yes / No questions are those questions that expect ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as answer. These questions do

not take the question words when, what, where etc.

Yes / No questions are used to check information or ask for confirmation.

‘Are you coming with us?’ ‘Yes.’

‘Has he returned the car?’ ‘No, he hasn’t.’

‘Do you live in Chicago?’ ‘No, I don’t.’

‘Does she speak English?’ ‘Yes, she does.’

‘Did you meet John yesterday?’ ‘No, I didn’t.’

Note the use of auxiliary verbs in the above examples.

When we answer Yes / No questions we do not normally repeat the complete the question.

Instead, we use an appropriate auxiliary verb. This auxiliary is usually present in the question.

‘Does Mike live with you?’ ‘Yes, he does.’

‘Did Maya tell you she wasn’t coming?’ ‘No, she didn’t.’
In negative answers we use the auxiliary verb and not. Usually a contracted form is used.

‘Have you ever visited Argentina?’ ‘Yes, I have.’

‘Will you help me?’ ‘No, I won’t.’ (won’t = will not)

Here is an overview of Yes / No questions in different tenses.

Present Simple

‘Do you speak English?’ ‘Yes, I do.’

‘Does she speak English?’ ‘No, she doesn’t.’

Present continuous

‘Are you coming with us?’ ‘Yes, I am.’

‘Is it raining?’ ‘Yes, it is.’

‘Is it snowing?’ ‘No, it isn’t.’

Present Perfect

‘Have you received the letter?’ ‘Yes, I have.’

‘Has he returned from Mumbai?’ ‘No, he hasn’t.’

Past Simple

‘Did you know the answer?’ ‘No, I didn’t.’

‘Did he get the letter?’ ‘Yes, he did.’

Past Continuous

‘Were you sleeping then?’ ‘Yes, I was.’

‘Was he reading his lessons?’ ‘No, he wasn’t.’

Future Simple

‘Will you come with me?’ ‘Yes, I will.’

‘Will you help me?’ ‘No, I won’t.’