Dummy Pronouns

This detailed lesson explains Dummy Pronouns in English with examples and a quiz to test your knowledge.

What Are Dummy Pronouns?

Dummy pronouns, also known as expletive pronouns, do not replace a noun, phrase, or clause. In fact, they refer to nothing in particular and instead serve to fulfill the syntactic or grammatical requirements of a sentence.

English Dummy Pronouns

Every sentence in English needs a subject to be grammatically complete. But in some sentence no clear noun or pronoun serves as the subject, or the speaker might with to rephrase the sentence to emphasize the subject. In such cases, dummy pronouns serve as placeholders for the subject, without referring to any real person or thing. The two dummy pronouns used in English are:

It
There

'It' as a Dummy Pronoun

As already mentioned, dummy pronouns refer to nothing. But they serve a grammatical function. Let us see when and how to use 'it' as a dummy pronoun.

1. Talking about Weather

In general, when discussing weather conditions, 'it' is commonly used as a dummy pronoun. The following examples illustrate the use of 'it' to describe weather conditions because without it the sentences would have no subject.

It's raining.

Is it snowing?

It was really cold yesterday.

In these examples, 'it' refers to the weather.

2. Talking about Time and Dates

We use 'it' as a dummy pronoun to talk about time and dates. Let's see how it works:

'What time is it?' 'It's almost eleven o'clock.'

Here, 'it' is used to talk about time.

'Why am I so cold?' 'Because it is January.'

Here, 'it' is used to talk about a date (January).

It's my birthday.

Here, 'it' is used to talk about an event on a specific date (a birthday).

3. Talking about Distance

'It' as a dummy pronoun is also used to talk about distance. Take a look at the following examples. 'It' has no meaning and refers to nothing in these sentences. It is just used to indicate the distance between point A and point B.

It is quite a hike to get from the parking lot to the entrance of the amusement park.

In this case, 'it' refers to the distance between the parking lot and the amusement park.

Is it a long drive?

I hope it is not far from here.

It is only a short walk to the store.

Using the Dummy Pronoun 'It' as the Subject

4. 'It' as a Provisional Subject

The pronoun 'it' is also used as a provisional subject, when the real subject is an infinitive or present participle clause. In such cases, the infinitive or present participle clause move after the verb and are called delayed subjects.Take a look at some examples:

It is impossible to beat them.

This sentence is originally 'to beat them is impossible' but it might sound unnatural, so it is typically rephrased with a dummy 'it.'

It's somehow interesting to find out about your ancestors.

This sentence is originally 'finding out about your ancestors is somehow interesting.'

It was really nice to meet you.

Or 'Meeting you was really nice.'

It's awful living here.

Or 'living here is awful.'

5. 'It' as an Emphasizer

'It' can be used as an emphasizer in the subject position, moving the original subject after the verb and forming a cleft sentence. Pay attention to the examples below:

It was Mike who fed the cat.

Here, in this example, we are actually emphasizing Mike.

It was Susie who broke the window.

It was him who made the pizza.

6. 'It' as Object

While dummy 'it' is mainly used as a subject, it can sometimes act as an object too. Dummy objects are sometimes used to transform transitive verbs to dummy verbs. For example:

I think I can make it in time for the game.

Here, 'make it in time' means 'being able to arrive in time'.

Does he get it?

Here, the speaker is asking whether he understands the subject.

'There' as a Dummy Pronoun

'There' can also function as a dummy pronoun, often referred to as the existential 'there'. It is primarily used to indicate the existence or occurrence of someone or something in a specific place, time, or situation.

There is a cold drink on the table.

This sentence is indicating the existence of something in a particular place.

There will be a party tomorrow night.

This sentence is indicating that something takes place at a particular time in the future.

There was a big problem with the car.

As you can see in these examples, we can use 'there' in all three main tenses.

Agreement with Verbs

'There' does not change its form to reflect number. As a result, in existential sentences with 'there' as the subject, the verb agrees with the delayed subject which appears after the verb. Look at the examples:

There is only one bottle left. (singular)

There are only two bottles left. (plural)

There is a person in the park. (singular)

There are hundreds of people in the park. (plural)

Warning!

Keep in mind that 'it' can't be plural. Therefore, the verbs and the subject complements or delayed subjects used in sentences with 'it' as the dummy subject, are always the singular form.

'Adverbial There' vs. 'Existential There'

When 'there' is used as an adverb in a sentence, it can act as a pro-adverb and replace an adverb or an adverbial phrase that refers to a place. Here's an example:

I was at the party but I didn't see you there.

Here, 'at the party' refers to a place, which makes it an adverbial phrase, and it is replaced by ''there.''

In this sentence, 'there' is an adverb and has taken the place of an adverb of place. Let's see another example:

Wait there until your mom comes back.

In this sentence too, "there" refers to a place.

On the other hand, when 'there' is used as a dummy pronoun in a sentence, it adds no information about a verb or any other part of the sentence. It just functions as the subject of a sentence and indicates the existence of something or someone or the occurrence of some event. For example:

There is a beautiful woman sitting there.

The first 'there' is the 'existential there' while the second one is the 'adverbial there.'

Review

Dummy pronouns do not refer to specific nouns or entities. They are placeholders used to make the sentence grammatically correct. English has two dummy pronouns: 'it' and 'there.'

'It'

Functions	Examples
to talk about weather	It is going to rain.
to talk about time and dates	It was June the first.
to talk about distance	It is five blocks from here.
as a provisional subject	It is hard to leave you.
as an emphasizer	It was Jack who told me the secret.
as dummy object	I hope I can make it up to you.

'There'

Function	Examples
to refer to existence	There is a wonderful party tonight.

Quiz:

Which sentence uses "it" as a dummy pronoun?

It is my favorite book.

It’s raining outside.

I can’t find it.

The cat is playing with it.

Sort the words into the correct order to form a sentence using "it" as a dummy pronoun.

today

april

3rd

Which of the sentences does not use "there" as a dummy pronoun?

There are three apples on the table.

There is a dog in the park.

He went there yesterday.

There are many ways to do that.

Fill in the blanks with the correct dummy pronoun.

are five people in the room.

is 7 a.m. right now.

is raining heavily outside.

must be a mistake in the book.

there

Complete the table by selecting the correct dummy pronoun ("it" or "there") for each context.

context	dummy pronoun
Talking about time
Introducing the existence of something
Describing a situation
Talking about weather
Talking about date or specific time

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When two or more people are doing the same thing and receiving the consequences of that action at the same time we use reciprocal pronouns.

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Relative pronouns are matchmakers of English grammar. They come in the beginning of relative clauses and join two clauses together. Ready to learn about them?

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An impersonal pronoun does not refer to a specific person or thing. These pronouns help us talk about a thing or person without mentioning what or who.

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