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 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.
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.
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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