LoginDummy Pronouns For beginners
In this lesson, beginners will learn about English Dummy Pronouns with easy explanations, clear examples, and simple exercises.
What Are Dummy Pronouns?
All sentences in English need a subject to be complete, but some sentences seem to not have a subject. In these cases, dummy pronouns fill the place of the subject in the sentence.
English Dummy Pronouns
There are two dummy pronouns in English:
It
There
'It' as a Dummy Pronoun
The dummy pronoun 'it' can serve as a dummy subject in sentences that talk about time, date, or weather. Look at these examples:
It's 5 o'clock in the morning.
It's January 3rd today.
It's raining.
Tip!
Dummy 'it' has no real meaning in the sentence and is used only to complete the grammatical structure of the sentence by providing a subject. Do not confuse it with third person neutral subject pronoun and object pronoun 'it' which has meaning and refers to a real thing.
Dummy Pronoun 'There'
The word 'there' is used as a dummy subject to show that a particular situation exists. Although 'there' does not refer to anything specific, it introduces the situation that the sentence is talking about. Look at these examples:
There are two chairs in the kitchen.
There was a loud noise outside.
There must be a way!
Quiz:
Which option is NOT a dummy pronoun?
It
This
There
In which sentence does "it" NOT act as a dummy pronoun?
It’s cold today.
It was raining all morning.
I found it on the table.
It’s 7 p.m. now.
True or False: "There" is used as a dummy pronoun in the sentence "I saw him there".
True
False
Match each sentence with the description of the use of the dummy pronoun ("it" or "there")
Fill in the blanks with the correct dummy pronoun.
are many books on the shelf.
is going to be sunny today.
is 9 a.m. right now.
are two chairs in the kitchen.
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