これら: when “these” needs an explicit group

これら is a pronoun meaning “these.” It points to multiple things or people associated with the speaker's side, or to several items the speaker has just presented as one group. It can take a particle directly, as in これらは and これらを. Before a following noun, use これらの + noun, as in これらの品物. Do not drop の in that pattern.

The plural meaning is real, but Japanese does not require これら every time English uses “these.” A Japanese teaching text from Kurosio Publishers explains that これら, それら, and あれら are used sometimes, while ordinary Japanese generally continues to use これ, それ, and あれ. Its contrast is practical: これらは私の本です explicitly marks two or more books, but これは全部私の本です can refer to a visible group and let 全部 make the quantity clear.

That gives you a useful choice. Use これら when you need to gather several already identified items into one precise set, especially in a notice, explanation, instruction, or report. In a face-to-face conversation, you can often point to the group and say これ, or keep the useful noun with この + noun. Add 全部, a number, or another quantity expression if the plural fact matters. The everyday sentence is often built around what the listener needs to identify, not around translating the English number word mechanically.

The basic こ perspective still matters. Tokyo University of Foreign Studies explains that これ indicates something in the speaker's nearby area when speaker and listener stand apart. これら keeps that speaker-side perspective while making the set explicit. In a written passage, “near the speaker” can become “the items I have just named.” This is why a report can list several objects and then refer back to them with これら.

One set of objects, three natural choices

Mika volunteers at a neighborhood exchange table. Residents have donated useful household items, and visitors may take what they need. The morning begins with a printed notice, continues through ordinary conversation, and ends with a short written report. Each setting gives Mika a different reason to make the group more or less explicit.

When Mika arrives, the categories are already named on the sign:

Here これらは gathers the three named categories into one set. The explicit plural pronoun suits a notice because the reader cannot rely on the writer's pointing gesture. すべて confirms that the whole set is included.

A visitor then asks about the same table in conversation:

Several objects are visible, but これは全部 is natural because the shared scene already supplies the group. これ does not force the listener to count one object. 全部 carries the important message that every item on the table came from a neighbor. This is often smoother in speech than replacing every English “these” with これら.

The organizer keeps a noun that helps Mika identify the right books:

この箱の本 identifies the group by location, and 全部 says every book in that group is available. English may begin this idea with “these books,” but Japanese can keep the concrete noun and let context plus 全部 do the plural work. This is clearer than an abstract pronoun when several kinds of donated objects sit nearby.

Near closing time, the organizer needs an unambiguous written instruction. A group of leftover items has already been separated from everything else:

Now これらを is useful. The note marks the separated items as the object of 運ぶ, and the physical position of the note makes the reference clear. This does not make これら “formal only.” It shows why the explicit form feels at home in labels, instructions, and careful explanations.

After the event, Mika writes the result for next month's volunteers:

これらの品物 combines explicit plural reference with a category noun. The first sentence establishes which items belong to the set; the second sentence carries that set forward. This pattern is especially helpful when a report lists several things and then assigns one shared action or conclusion to all of them.

The decision is therefore about information, not simply singular versus plural. Ask whether the listener already sees the group, whether a noun would identify it better, and whether you are collecting several earlier items into one set. Choose これら for that explicit collection. Choose これ or この + noun when the scene already does most of the identifying, then add 全部 or a number only when the quantity matters.