What is different between "Is that her heart?" and "That thing's her heart?"?

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

While these two sentences have the same meaning, the feeling given by each is different. "Is that her heart?" is very direct and straightforward. "That thing" from "that thing's her heart?" gives off a feeling of surprise and incredulity, combined with the speaker's facial expression and tone of voice. "That" in "that thing" is used to create a feeling of distance from the object, while "thing" also suggests a feeling of estrangement. Thus, "that thing's her heart" does a better job of expressing the speaker's feelings. Ex: A: Say hello to your new little brother! B: That thing's a baby? Ex: I can't believe that thing's worth a million dollars.

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Popular Q&As

04/19

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