[General] This is versus It is

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englishhobby

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Consider the following situation: two men are in the museum, a tour guide has come up to them. One man says to the other: It's our tour guide./This is our tour guide. Are both variants correct from the point of view of a native speaker of English in this particular situation? :?:
 

Kondorosi

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Consider the following situation: two men are in the museum, a tour guide has come up to them. One man says to the other: It's our tour guide./This is our tour guide. Are both variants correct from the point of view of a native speaker of English in this particular situation? :?:

Demonstrative pronouns are not usually used to refer to humans. A major exception to this rule , though, is when they are used in introductions.

This is our tour guide. :tick:
It is our tour guide. :cross: ('It' is not a demonstrative pronoun)
(S)he is our tour guide. :tick:
 

Nightmare85

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It is our tour guide. :cross: ('It' is not a demonstrative pronoun)
(S)he is our tour guide. :tick:

Question:
She, a little girl, is our tour guide.
He, an old man, is our tour guide.
It, a monkey :-D, is our tour guide. (this is not that impossible :))

Is "it" definitely wrong, anyway?

Cheers!
 

Kondorosi

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'it' is reserved for inanimate things. Animals are borderline beings. Sometimes they are referred to by he or she.
 

Nightmare85

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Okay, it is a bit difficult for me fully to understand this now, but I will remember your words :)

Thanks!

Cheers!
 

bhaisahab

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Demonstrative pronouns are not usually used to refer to humans. A major exception to this rule , though, is when they are used in introductions.

This is our tour guide. :tick:
It is our tour guide. :cross: ('It' is not a demonstrative pronoun)
(S)he is our tour guide. :tick:

"Who is that?" "It's our tour guide". This is a perfectly correct exchange.
 

euncu

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'it' is reserved for inanimate things.

However, you can use "it" when you call someone who you know by phone wants to know who you are and you reply as "it's me!".

It is true for the situation that you knock the door of someone you know and when he/she answers the door by asking you who you are , you say "it's me"
 

englishhobby

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"Who is that?" "It's our tour guide". This is a perfectly correct exchange.

And if no one asks "Who's that?", if the speaker is just informing his friend or colleague that the person who has come up to them is going to be their tour guide, will it be correct to say "It's our tour guide" without any introduction and not as an a answer to a question? :?:
 
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bhaisahab

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And if no one asks "Who's that?", if the speaker is just informing his friend or colleague that the person who has come up to them is going to be their tour guide, will it be correct to say "It's our tour guide" without any introduction and not as an a answer to a question? :?:

Yes, for example: "Oh look, it's our tour guide".
 

englishhobby

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Yes, for example: "Oh look, it's our tour guide".

And is there any difference between "Look, this is our tour guide" and "Look, it's our tour guide"?Are these interchangeable in this situation without any change of meaning?
 

Barb_D

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You wouldn't use "this" in that situation, unless you were introducing the tour guide to your friend.

Marvin, this is Selma, our tour guide. I met her when I was buying our tickets.

Selma, this is my friend Marvin.
 

Linguist__

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And is there any difference between "Look, this is our tour guide" and "Look, it's our tour guide"?Are these interchangeable in this situation without any change of meaning?

Yes, there's a difference. Saying 'It's our tour guide' sort of implies suprise, or unexpectedness, as though he/she appeared beside you unexpectedly; 'Look, it's our tour guide' implies that one speaker sees the tour guide from afar and is making the other aware of his/her presence.

'Look, this is our tour guide' sounds like an emphasis, and 'look' is being used to mean 'listen'. It makes me think of two people arguing about who is their tour guide, while looking at pictures of a variety of tour guides (because of the 'this', which requires the thing to be close to the speaker). As in:

Speaker A: I'm sure it's this one (points to picture 1)
Speaker B: Look, this is our tour guide (points to picture 2). I saw her when I booked the tour!


You can't say 'this' without some sort of gesture; poiting, nodding etc. To say 'this is our tour guide' in any situation you have to be showing her, either as an introduction, or poiting from afar (in which case it would be 'that'). If you say 'look, this is our tour guide', the 'this' implies he/she is there (because 'this' means 'the thing near me') and saying 'look' would be to either direct the attention fo the listener, or to make him listen to you. Either way, it is rude! The tour guide is there, talk about her like she is there!

Basically, unless it is an introduction, you don't refer to someone who is present among the speakers/listeners as 'this' unless you wish to be rude. And if you are introducing someone, you don't start with something like 'look'.
 

Kondorosi

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However, you can use "it" when you call someone ... "it's me!".

It is true for the situation that you knock the door of someone you know and when he/she answers the door by asking you who you are , you say "it's me"

This sound is me (=this sound comes from me or made by me). In your examples, I do not really feel 'it' refers to a person, but rather, a phenomenon.
 
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