Can someone explain the rule for asking, "What is it?" vs. asking, "What is this?"?

Question

I teach English as a second language (ESL) as a volunteer to immigrants who live under the poverty level, but have no formal training, so please forgive my ignorance. I know that "this" (near) and "that" (distant) are demonstratives and that "it" is a pronoun, but I couldn't articulate a rule for deciding when to ask "What is this?" vs. "What is it?"

Answer 1

Well, I would say the following...

"What is this?" would be when you are in possession of a object or close to an object and you do not know the name or function of it.

"What is it?" Is a question you ask when someone approaches you and askes you for a favor or your attention.

Answer 2

Perhaps it would be best to say that "this" is an object, and "it" is a subject. ("That" is an object too!)

"It" - the subject - can be used for non-physical things, such as when you wonder what people want and you say "what is it?" But it can also be used to refer to a physical object that has already been brought up as the subject of discussion;
A. "Look at this!"
B. "What is it?"
A. "Can't you tell? It's a dictionary!"

or
A. "Look at that!"
B. "What is it?"
A. "It's the new Olympic Stadium!"

The alternative conversations could be;
B. "What's this?"
A. "It's a dictionary!"

or
B. "What's that?"
A. "It's the new Olympic stadium!"

Answer 3

"What is this?" Is used when the conversation is not already on the object in question or it has not been mentioned or is being discussed currently:

Eg: "The weather today is beautiful"
'Hmm, yes' *Pointing to Vase* "What is this?"

"What is it?" Is used typically after an opening statement about an object that has been said by somebody else:

Eg: "Have you seen this? We got it last week"
'Oh, what is it?'

Answer 4

You have answered your own question. What is it is when you are looking at a object in your hand or looking at a picture with a scene and you have something else in the other hand and then you ask What is this??

Answer 5

Saying "What is this" would be saying " What is this foreign object in my hand?" because the word this is near. Saying "What is it?" has no definition. It is like saying " Me Go....You Stay" in a neanderthal native language. There is no rule for " What is it?"

Answer 6

There's an interesting rule of thumb which you can use, without having to go into the intricacies of the language. If you can touch it, you can say, "What is this?" If you have to point to it, you say, "What is that?"
Hope this helps.

Answer 7

It seems to me that the "it" question could be used in any instance. You could be referring to something near or far or to anything - sort of a catch-all kind of question.

Answer 8

'What is it?' is asked when you don't know something or haven't seen it. You don't have any idea of it. You're asking what is it? to find out what it is.
Opposed to " what is this?", is when you have already seen the something and know what it is but are asking for a further explanation of it. like you aren't sure to what it is.

Answer 9

what is it? whay is this? what is that? i use all of them