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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
THIS/IT ; THESE/THEY
scenario 1 : If I have, say, a pen in my pocket and a colleague asks me to show him what pen I have, I would pull out the pen and say " this is it ".
scenario 2 : If I have two pens in my pocket and the colleague asks me what pens I have, how do I answer in the above idiom, but in a plural form? Would I say " these are they"?
This is maybe a pedantic grammar question but I would be interested to know the proper grammar for scenario 2.
Regards
Doug
scenario 2 : If I have two pens in my pocket and the colleague asks me what pens I have, how do I answer in the above idiom, but in a plural form? Would I say " these are they"?
This is maybe a pedantic grammar question but I would be interested to know the proper grammar for scenario 2.
Regards
Doug
Top answer
It's still "this is it" if you want to stay idiomatic. It's even gramattically correct if you take "it" to mean "this array of objects I am showing you".
- It's still "this is it" if you want to stay idiomatic.
- It's even gramattically correct if you take "it" to mean "this array of objects I am showing you".
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3 Answers
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It's still "this is it" if you want to stay idiomatic.
It's even gramattically correct if you take "it" to mean "this array of objects I am showing you".
It's even gramattically correct if you take "it" to mean "this array of objects I am showing you".
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Hi,
scenario 1 : If I have, say, a pen in my pocket and a colleague asks me to show him what pen I have, I would pull out the pen and say " this is it ".
scenario 2 : If I have two pens in my pocket and the colleague asks me what pens I have, how do I answer in the above idiom, but in a plural form? Would I say " these are they"?
This
scenario 1 : If I have, say, a pen in my pocket and a colleague asks me to show him what pen I have, I would pull out the pen and say " this is it ".
scenario 2 : If I have two pens in my pocket and the colleague asks me what pens I have, how do I answer in the above idiom, but in a plural form? Would I say " these are they"?
This
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AnonymousI would be interested to knowIt depends what you mean in the first case. There are (at least) two sets of parallel statements here. I'm assuming you are showing the pen or pens in each case.
One pen: This is it. ~ This is the pen.
Two pens: These are the ones. ~ These are the pens.
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