Language Forum

Hi
Thank you for answering my question. From your answer, i understood that "IT" is only used with uncountable nouns, but i have seen in many places that " it" is used with a countable noun like " it is a pen".
Would you please tell me more about "IT".?
What is the difference between " it" and "that" and "this"?
When can we use it?
When can we use that and when this?
Would you please provide me with some examples?

Thanks a bunch

Hello, David!

The pronoun it is used to refer to uncountable nouns, but also, to singular nouns or words:

What colour is milk? It is white.
This/That/It is a pen.
The house is mine. It was built in 1980.


Please visit http://www.polseguera.org/basic_english_grammar/personal_pronouns_and_possessives.php and http://www.polseguera.org/advanced_english_grammar/personal_possessive_reflexive.php for further information.


This and that are demostrative pronouns and determiners. This implies that something or someone is close to us, and that is used to indicate distance:

That man over there is my cousin.

-Hello, Peter! This is my uncle. His name is Tom
-Nice to meet you, Tom
-Nice to meet you, Peter

What is that? It is a rabbit.

This book (the book is near) is mine and that book (the book is not near) is yours.

Best regards,
Mike