English Phrase of the Week: What’s this? vs. What’s that?

To young children, everything is new and exciting. They are of course very curious and love asking questions. Two very popular questions are “What’s this?” and “What’s that?” These questions can be used when the child wants to know what an item is. “What’s this?” is used when the child is holding the item. For example, if the child is holding a pinecone they can ask, “What’s this?” It can also be used if the item is close enough for the child to touch. “What’s that?” is used when the child is asking about an item someone else is holding, or if the item is farther away. For example, if the teacher is holding the pinecone or if the pinecone is in the tree. We want to encourage curiosity in children, so let’s practice asking “What’s this?” and What’s that?”

“this”と”that”の使い分けを、日常の子どもたちの生活の中でぜひ実践してみて下さい。学校英語では、近くにあるものと遠くにあるものとで区別すると習ったような気がします。小さな子どもたちはまだ行動範囲が狭いので自分の手にあるものは、”this”で、他の人の手にあるものや離れたところのものは”that”という説明がわかりやすいですね。意識しておうちでも練習して見てください。