Grammar: Uses of the impersonal pronoun
‘it’
It’s a lovely day, isn’t it? – ‘It’ is ‘the day’.
In English, verbs need a subject. In this example we use the verb “to
be” – IS, so we need the subject pronoun ‘it’ = ‘It’s a lovely day’ (IT
IS a lovely day)
“It’s sunny” (it = the weather)
It’s snowing, it’s raining,
“It’s a good thing you’ve come.”
“It was lovely to see you yesterday.” / “it was lovely seeing you
yesterday.” or “Seeing you yesterday was lovely.”
“It is nearly always sunny in Valencia.”
‘It’ can be used as a subject to an
impersonal verb.
‘What time is it?’ – ‘It’s 2.’
“It was a surprise that we met last week.” – ‘IT’ is the surprise.
The pronoun “it” is used as a
‘provisional’ subject, when the real subject is an infinitive or a
gerund.
It’s difficult to live with her. (to live with her is not easy)
It’s great fun recording these podcasts (recording these podcasts is
great fun)
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