Let's Think About This

This is no ordinary word.

If I’m talking about this thing, you know I mean the one that’s close to me—or, at least, it’s metaphorically close to me. This doesn’t really have to mean within close physical proximity at all, like if I talk about this idea I’ve got or this movie I just saw.

This doesn’t really work without that, its opposite corollary. Instead of something close by, now we’re talking about something far away—and, again, this can be metaphorical. That idea I once had isn’t as good as this other idea I have now.

This and that don’t really work without these and those, though. That’s because you might want to talk about more than one of this or that.

What’s even more interesting is that the came from the same place, in a manner of speaking. When you think about it, the is always referring to this one or that one, isn’t it? If I say I ate an apple, you’re going to note mentally that I ate some random apple. If I say I ate the apple, you’re going to understand that I mean a particular apple—this one or that one, to be sure.

Then, there’s then. It’s almost like you’re saying the + when, but that’s not where then came from, all the way back then. Then is talking about a particular time in the same way that this and that are talking about particular objects. In this same family is there (this or that place), thence, and thither.

Does this make sense?