Question

Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate words.
___ is a pencil and ___ are pens.

• A. This/that
• B. That/these
• C. These/those
• D. That/this
• E. Those/those

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

That/these

The pronouns that demonstrate (point out) some particular persons or things are called demonstrative pronouns.

The demonstrative pronouns 'this' and 'these' are used to refer to what is near. 'This' is used to refer to singular nouns and 'These' is used for plural nouns.

The demonstrative pronouns 'that' and 'those' are used to refer to things far away. 'That' is used in case of singular nouns and 'Those' are used to in case of plural pronouns.

The first blank must be filled with a singular demonstrative pronoun and the second blank must be filled with a plural demonstrative pronoun as they indicate singular and plural subjects respectively.

The only such combination is option B.

Hence the complete sentence must be-This is a pencil and those are pens.

Thus option B is the correct answer. Options A,C,D,E are incorrect.