Confusion in the difference between it and this

Question

Hi,I'm really confused in the difference between it and this. When we say:It is a car.This is a car.then, how can we know which sentence is specifying what meaning? Also, can we use 'it' for any person? like instead of saying He/She is here, can we say: It is here?

Kooyeen · Accepted Answer

It's difficult to explain the difference... Don't you have an equivalent word in your native language? I thought particles with the same funcion as "this/that" could be found in every language.

IT is a pronoun (a pronoun a particle that is used in place of the actual noun)
The car is red. It is red. (it = the car)

THIS is a demonstrative pronoun. Demonstratives, according to Wikipedia, are "words that indicate which entities a speaker refers to, and distinguishes those entities from others".
This car is red. (This, to emphasize it's the one next to me, or the one I'm pointing to, etc. I'm talking about a particular car and excluding all the others).

I don't think I would be able to make it clearer than this. I learned lots of basic grammatical particles through direct translations from my native language (this = questo/a, in Italian).

Dimsumexpress · Answer

English_Learner123
It is a car.

This is a car

Depending on the context, both are possible but the latter is more likely.

Consider:

This is my girlfriend Jennife. (you are introducing her to your friend)

This is my new house. (you are having a house warming party and showing your friends your new house).

No, you can't use "it" for human context.

Yankee · Answer

Hi dimsumexpress. It's me -- Amy. What's new?

------------------------------------------------------

(Someone is knocking at Amy's door.)
Amy: "Who is it?"

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Alice: The phone's for you, Amy.
Amy: Who is it?
Alice: It's your husband.

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dimsumexpressNo, you can't use "it" for human context.

But in some cases you can. (See above.)

English_Learner123 · Answer

So it means we can use 'it' for the person of unspecified ***?

CalifJim · Answer

it = the thing you mentioned / the thing you want me to identify
this = the thing in front of me / the thing I see here [this is often said while pointing to the thing.]

It is a car. The thing you mentioned is a car. / The thing you want identified is a car.

This is a car. The thing in front of me is a car. / The thing we see here is a car.

Jane is with Fred. Jane points to a car that is in front of her and Fred. She and Fred are looking at the car. She asks Fred about the car and he answers like this:

Jane: What is this? (What is the thing in front of me?)
Fred: It is a car. (The thing you asked about is a car.)
OR
Fred: This is a car. (The thing in front of me is a car.)
___________

Suppose Jane is quite far from Fred. She points to the car that is in front of her, though it is quite far from Fred. Jane shouts to Fred:

Jane: What is this? (What is the thing in front of me?)
Fred: It is a car. (The thing you asked about is a car.)
BUT NOT
Fred: *This is a car. (The thing in front of me is a car.)

In the second case, the car is not in front of Fred. It is quite far from Fred. So he can't say "This is a car". But he can still say "It is a car".
____________

No, you can't use it to refer to a person. You can't say, for example. *This is my brother, and it is interested in cars.

The only exception is in a sentence that begins with It's followed by the person's name or an expression that refers to a person (or the question form of one of these). (Amy gave examples of this above.)

It's John. / It's me. / Is it you? / Who is it? / It's him. / It's Lucy. / It's the postman. / Is it your brother?

These are equivalent to:

The thing/person you want me to identify is [John / me / ... / Lucy / the postman / ...]

CJ

English_Learner123 · Answer

Thank you, Sir.

Dimsumexpress · Answer

Yankee
Alice: The phone's for you, Amy.

Amy: Who is it?

Alice: It's your husband.

YankeeHi dimsumexpress. It's me

Yankee
Amy: Who is it?

It's not fair! That's not what I intend to mean

I guess CJ explains it **** a lot bette then I can....

No, you can't use it to refer to a person. You can't say, for example. *This is my brother, and it is interested in cars.

CalifJim · Answer

dimsumexpressIt's not fair! That's not what I intend

Isn't that the truth? There is always one more case that we overlooked -- one more pesky exception! Such is English! What fun!

CJ

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