This sentence is from English Grammar Today by the Cambridge Dictionary: The floods were rising and it was as if it was the end of the world. My question is why should it was be there twice in that sentence? I assume that the first it was refers back to the rising of the floods. Then … Read more
It’s not easy to do the right thing. What is the subject in the given sentence? I don’t think it’s obvious in this sentence. I was taught that subject is something, that performs the verb. But I don’t anything in this sentence that performs the verb. Any help would be appreciated. Answer It is the … Read more
This site has a number of questions and answers (e.g. this question) on the use of the third-person feminine pronoun (“she” or “her”) as a substitute for specific things like ships and hurricanes and even whales (“thar she blows!”). In certain rural dialects in the United States, however, one hears the third-person feminine pronoun her … Read more
I am very confused. Unless I am mistaken, I know “it” has to be a noun of some sort, but I am unable to figure out what noun “it” is referring to. What is “it” in the following sentence: It is clear that Bob likes doughnuts. Heres another couple of examples: It is impossible to … Read more
Before I embraced descriptive grammar it would really grind my gears when I heard, usually from someone with a US American accent, phrases like “I hate when that happens”. “Hate is a transitive verb!” I would yell. (To my knowledge it’s not normal to drop it in “UK English”.) However, these days I’m more mellow. … Read more
Let’s assume we have this sentence: It was the invention of the hand-held calculator that provided the original technology for the present generation of small but powerful computers. I already know that the word It is a “dummy” and here we have extrapositional transformation, which means we can replace It with the that-clause from the … Read more
Why don’t we use “there is” when we’re talking about cold outside? What is the difference in meaning between “it’s cold outside” and “there is cold outside”? Update. Let me explain my question a bit. I know that “It’s cold outside” is correct. My real question is about the rule of a thumb when to … Read more
Recently, I have been trying to understand the nuances of language to turn myself into a better writer. This has led me to the ‘dummy subject’ or ‘dummy pronoun.’ I am clear on the function of ‘there,’ but ‘it’ has proven to be more confusing. I am aware of this subject being used to talk … Read more
I just encountered the following sentence in The Oxford Guide to Style (p. 161) and could not figure out its structure: Since it⁽¹⁾ is being presented as a direct quotation it⁽²⁾ is treated as one, it⁽³⁾ being immaterial that the words are not in English. Why can the the final instance of the pronoun it, … Read more
It is raining. It’s a sunny day. I hate it when it rains. I’m prepared if it snows. It can be mighty cold at night! … etc. My questions: When did English speakers start using “it” when referring to weather conditions / activities? Or has this always been the case? Did people use to say … Read more
