"one of these" or "one of those"

Question

I'm in a restaurant. I see something I'd like in the menu, but I don't know what it's called. I point to it and say:

Can I have one of these, please?

or I should say:

Can I have one of those, please?

Update:

Can we use "those" with items that are close to speaker?

Did you check the definitions of these and those? Also you don't say where it is. — user3169, Feb 18 '17 at 00:49
@user3169, yes, and I update the question to be more specific. — Shannak, Feb 19 '17 at 18:57

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 17 '17 at 22:54

4

Weirdly enough, that depends on how close said item is to you. Say you have a plate right in front of you, you would say

"One of these please"

If the item in question is a few feet or more away from you, you would instead say,

"One of those please"

Use "these" for items that are very close, and "those" for items further away

answered Feb 17 '17 at 22:54

mstorkson

I would say so too. But you can also think about 'these' referring to some certain things. While 'those' is or can be used to generalise something. But I would say the range indicator is more reliable. – Tom-Oliver Heidel Feb 18 '17 at 13:19

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 17 '17 at 23:00

2

If the items are in some way near you (actually near you, or you are pointing to a picture or a menu that you are holding), you can use these.

But you can always use those, whether they are near you or not.

answered Feb 17 '17 at 23:00

Colin Fine

2 Answers2