Answer to 'What is this/that?'

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slmhlm
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Answer to 'What is this/that?'

Post by slmhlm »

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

Post by Joe »

slmhlm wrote: Thu Jan 07, 2021 2:22 pm 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?"
"We are not wholly bad or good, who live our lives under Milk Wood :-| " — Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood

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slmhlm
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Re: Answer to 'What is this/that?'

Post by 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..."?
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Joe
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Re: Answer to 'What is this/that?'

Post by Joe »

slmhlm wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:58 am 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").
"We are not wholly bad or good, who live our lives under Milk Wood :-| " — Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood

eBooks: English Prepositions List | Essential Business Words | Learn English in Seven
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