Using ‘this’ in preference to ‘that’ or ‘it’ for a memory or future occurrence

Question

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.

Prateek Upmanyu · Answer

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.

Answered by Prateek Upmanyu on February 23, 2021

Using ‘this’ in preference to ‘that’ or ‘it’ for a memory or future occurrence

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