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Apologies if this has been asked, as maybe I’m inept with the search function.

I’ve been given a paragraph that I feel is incorrect:

I’m listening to the radio as I drive to work, and The Beach Boys are playing. It reminds me of my childhood. When I get home, I usually play one of their albums. I like listening to them during dinner too. My wife hates them though, so I can’t do this very often.

The final sentence contains what I feel is an error.

I believe it should be: ...so I can’t do it very often. OR ...so I can’t do that very often.

My only explanation is that it’s divorced from his present action, and therefore ‘this’ isn’t appropriate. Am I incorrect?

Thank you.

KillingTime
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Dandylion
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    The sense is 'this thing' (that I've just referred to'. This, that or it are all possible. – Kate Bunting Nov 14 '19 at 14:27
  • Exactly. That is usable here because it's past, and this is usable here because it's close. – John Lawler Nov 14 '19 at 15:27
  • Agree with the comment that all three are acceptable, but I also share the feeling of the original poster that "this" sounds a bit stilted, at least in spoken American English. Were I to speak these words, I'd almost certainly use "that," with an outside chance of "it." – cruthers Apr 08 '21 at 22:21

1 Answers1

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The use of 'this' is correct. If you read carefully, you will notice that the sentence preceding the sentence which contains 'this' had two actions 'play' and 'listening'. Now if we use 'that', it will be qualifying the farther placed action i.e. 'play' which will be erroneous. If we use use 'this' it qualifies the nearby places action which is 'listening' which makes total sense. If we use 'it', it will be totally confusing as then it will have two actions to qualify. I hope I dispelled the confusion.

KillingTime
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Prateek Upmanyu
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