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I am used to using the phrase that is a lot, for example: "I have a skill that is useful in this situation". What if I use a plural form? What is the correct sentence of the following two?
- I have some skills that are useful in this situation.
- I have some skills those are useful in this situation.
As others have pointed out, in your examples, it is correct to use that, and not those.
Why? The that in your sentence is being used as a pronoun to introduce a relative restrictive clause, not as a pronoun referring to skills, so it doesn't get pluralized. Here's a helpful definition:
that (pronoun) \thət, ˈthat\ —18. used to introduce a restrictive relative clause ⇒ (e.g. the book that we want)
Essentially, your sentence
I have some skills that are useful in this situation.
is saying:
My skills are useful in this situation.
However, if you add the right punctuation, then the word that could be used as a pronoun referring to the subject of the sentence:
I have a skill (debating); that (skill) is useful in this situation.
And, in this case, the plural form would be used when referring to more than one skill:
I have skills (debating, logic, and public speaking); these (skills) are useful in this situation.
Furthermore, if you are talking about someone else's skills, you could change the these to those:
She has skills (debating, logic, and public speaking); those are useful in this situation.
Hopefully, I've provided some examples that are useful for your situation.
(or, I've provided some examples; hopefully, these are useful for your situation.)
The only alternative to that in such sentences is which. That (in this context) is a relative pronoun (or a clause subordinator for some linguists), while those is a demonstrative pronoun and a demonstrative determiner.
