Answer to 'What is this/that?'

[slmhlm]

Hello,
Is there any reality to start to answer with 'It is a car.' for the question : What is this/that?

[Josef Essberger]

Hello,
Is there any reality to start to answer with 'It is a car.' for the question : What is this/that?

Grammatically, "It is a car" is a perfectly possible answer to "What is this?" or "What is that?"

[slmhlm]

Thank you!

Do you think that it is a strict obligation to start with "It" ? Some people say it is correct only if you start with "it"

Is it not common to start with " That is..."?

[Josef Essberger]

Thank you!

Do you think that it is a strict obligation to start with "It" ? Some people say it is correct only if you start with "it"

Is it not common to start with " That is..."?

"It" would be most common/idiomatic.

"This is/That is" is possible and might be appropriate in some circumstances (such as where you really want to focus on "This" or "That").