I'm talking with someone and I want to know what they think about a specific topic (which was discussed priviously), which of the following should I use:
- What are your thoughts on that
or
- What are your thoughts on this
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1I have thoughts on this 'n that. Which do you want? – Hot Licks Nov 17 '17 at 23:27
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@HotLicks, if I said "I just bought a house, what are your thoughts on X", which one should i use? – Trey Nov 17 '17 at 23:38
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2@Trey Either would be alright. They tend to be interchangeable. Normally I would say "that", unless I were at the time gesturing toward something e.g. a notice, or some documents, then "this" would seem more apt. – WS2 Nov 18 '17 at 00:51
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1Use "this" if you're conceptually (or literally) holding the object of the discussion. Use "that" if the object is some distance away. – Hot Licks Nov 18 '17 at 02:37
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@HotLicks Of course the object could be something abstract, which you couldn't hold in your hand - such as Plato's philosophy of forms. Now generally I would say "that", but if I were holding an account of it written in a book, and I had just read it for the first time I might say "What do you think of this". I've noticed that when you send someone something by email, they will often reply "Thank you for this" - but my own inclination is to "thank you for that". I'm not sure why. – WS2 Nov 18 '17 at 19:46
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@WS2 - Even if it's abstract there is a distinction between "here" -- what I was just talking about -- and "over there" -- a topic raised by someone else. – Hot Licks Nov 18 '17 at 20:13