These refers to things near the speaker or happening now, and those to things further away in space or time. They're the plurals of this and that: this book, these books; that book, those books.
these or those — can you pick the right one?
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these + plural noun: these shoes, these days (= nowadays); those + plural noun: those boxes over there, in those days (= back then); those who + verb; These are… / Those are…
- These shoes are killing me, so I'll change into trainers after work.
- Can you pass me those folders on the top shelf?
- In those days we didn't have smartphones, so we used paper maps.
What changed
First versionIn 2015 I was a student, and in these days I lived in a shared flat.
RevisionIn 2015 I was a student, and in those days I lived in a shared flat.
These can feel right because 2015 was just mentioned, so in the story that time seems close at hand. But in English these days means nowadays, at the present time. For the past, the phrase is in those days, meaning back then. Only one word was changed.
Those can stand for people: those who means the people who. Those who finish early can leave. These isn't used this way.
Your turn
Look at ___ birds on the roof across the street!
Show the answer
those — The birds are on a roof across the street, far from the speaker, so those. These would point to something close by: in your hands or at your feet.
Describe an old photo. Say what you can see in it and what year it was taken.
In this photo from 2005 you can see my parents' first car, and in those days it looked really modern to me.
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