Yes, <this><he> is my father.
- Thread starter 呼喊细语
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Most likely. 99% of the time the answer is going to be a simple “yes.”
If it's from grammatical perspective,this or he, which is correct?
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this
There's no such thing as a "standard answer".
Grammatically? They are both correct.
For me, "Yes, he's my father" doesn't work as a response to the question "Is this your father?" "he" needs an antecedent.
- Is this your father?
- Yes, this is my father.
- Is Mr. Jones your father?
- Yes, he's my father.
- Is this your father?
- Yes, this is my father.
- Is Mr. Jones your father?
- Yes, he's my father.
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It doesn’t have an antecedent. You can’t point to a picture of somebody and say “Look, he’s my father.” At least not in my variety of English.
I agree.
Why on earth not?
Maybe it’s a US/UK difference.
Often a non-native speaker will say, in introducing himself and a friend, “Hi, I’m Alex, and he’s my friend Joe,” which sounds nails-on-chalkboard wrong to me. Perhaps it works in the UK.
Often a non-native speaker will say, in introducing himself and a friend, “Hi, I’m Alex, and he’s my friend Joe,” which sounds nails-on-chalkboard wrong to me. Perhaps it works in the UK.
Only “that’s” for me.
I would say the jury's still out on that. When I say "for me" I'm not suggesting it doesn't apply more broadly. I try not to be categorical because, yes, it could turn out to be a personal preference. We haven't heard from too many other people in this thread, so we don't have enough information to be able to draw broader conclusions.
(BTW: I've only ever seen it spelled "idiolect." To avoid being categorical, I won't say yours is wrong.
)
(BTW: I've only ever seen it spelled "idiolect." To avoid being categorical, I won't say yours is wrong.
)Ah, but I corrected the typo before your post arrived. So quickly that the post doesn't show it's been edited.(BTW: I've only ever seen it spelled "idiolect." To avoid being categorical, I won't say yours is wrong.
actually I also think so,but someone said "this" is not a right answer,I’m not convinced as a non-native speaker.So I asked for help through this forum,thank you for answering, it's a special experience for me by this way.
If someone showed me a photo of my father by himself and said
"Is this your father?"
I'd probably answer with just some form of "yes" (yeah, yes, yep, etc.).
But suppose someone shows me a photo of my father and his brothers and says "Which one is your father?".
I myself would point to my father and probably say "that's my father" or "this one's my father" or "this is my father" or "that's him."
But if, in the same situation (several men in one photo), I heard someone say "he's my father," I would take it as perfectly ordinary, standard English. I would definitely not think "Oh, they must not be a native English speaker," "They must be from some part of the US I've never lived in," "Funny, they've lost their British accent," etc.
"Is this your father?"
I'd probably answer with just some form of "yes" (yeah, yes, yep, etc.).
But suppose someone shows me a photo of my father and his brothers and says "Which one is your father?".
I myself would point to my father and probably say "that's my father" or "this one's my father" or "this is my father" or "that's him."
But if, in the same situation (several men in one photo), I heard someone say "he's my father," I would take it as perfectly ordinary, standard English. I would definitely not think "Oh, they must not be a native English speaker," "They must be from some part of the US I've never lived in," "Funny, they've lost their British accent," etc.
I would agree with the person who told you that. I would expect the long answer to "Is this your father?" to be "Yes, that's my father" rather than "Yes, this is my father."
Do you mean in response to “Which one is your father?”?
Yes. The situation is one in which there are several men in one photo, as I said in the parenthesis.
I think the version with “this” is possible. Imagine patiently answering a child:
- Is this a cat?
- Yes, yes, this is a cat (as I’ve already told you).
Still "that" for me
.Hang on folks. There is no context in the original question. I agree with Elroy that a perfectly valid response to "Is this your father" is "Yes, this is my father." If I am standing with an older man who looks vaguely like me and somebody says "Is this your father" (and he is actually my father) I would probably say "Yes". I might say "Yes, this is my father" and I could say "Yes, he is my father". I most certainly would not say "Yes, that is my father."
Surely the usual pronoun is “it”?