PRONOUN IT
We commonly use the pronoun it as both a
subject and an object pronoun:
• Don’t drink the milk. It smells terrible.
• Has anyone seen my phone? I can’t find it
anywhere.
We often use it in question tags:
That furniture is lovely. It isn’t too expensive for us, is it?
You know the flat with three bedrooms by the
supermarket? It’s the best one we’ve seen so far, isn’t it?
IT AS AN ‘EMPTY’ OR ‘DUMMY’
SUBJECT AND OBJECT
We can use it as an ‘empty’ subject or as an ‘empty’
object. It is ‘empty’ because it doesn’t refer to anything
in particular:
• I know it’s going to rain today!
• It’s getting a bit late now, so let’s watch a DVD
at home, shall we?
• She doesn’t like it when you are so quiet.
• How long will it be before he gives up smoking?
ANTICIPATORY IT
We also use it to introduce or ‘anticipate’ the subject or object of a
sentence, especially when the subject or object of the sentence is a
clause. Most commonly, such clauses are to + infinitive and that
clauses. We also call this use of it a ‘dummy’ subject, since the real
subject is another part of the sentence (real subject underlined):
• It’s good that she’s doing more exercise. (or, more formally:
That she’s doing more exercise is good.)
• It was nice to talk with them again. (or, more formally: To talk
with them again was nice.)
• It’s quite likely that we shall be late, so please do start without
us.
I FIND IT AMAZING THAT
…
With verbs such as find or consider, it + adjective + that
clause or it + adjective + to infinitive, are commonly
used to anticipate an object:
I find it amazing that they’ve never stopped
arguing about football.
Not: I find amazing that they’ve …
I must say, local people will consider it to be an insult
that they have not learned to speak a few words of
the language.
I find it surprising to see so many people here.
We also use it when a clause is the subject of a verb such
as appear, seem, look, occur, which hedge or soften the
statement, making it less direct:
• It seems they’ve all lost contact since they met at
the wedding.
• It occurred to me that we might visit them while
we are in South Africa.
IT AND CLEFT SENTENCES (IT WAS MY FRIEND
WHO …)
We use it in cleft sentences. It emphasises the subject or
object of the main clause:
~It was his sister who ran the marathon in New York,
wasn’t it?
[talking about a computer problem]
• Was it the printer that caused the problem?
• It was Mary they promoted, not Laura.
IT WITH THE PASSIVE
VOICE
It is common with the passive voice. It makes the
sentence seem less personal and more objective:
• It was decided that we should all swim across the lake
before breakfast.
• It is accepted that research into cancer has advanced
considerably in the last few years.
OBJECT
PRONOUNS
The seven basic pronouns have one form when they
are used as subjects and another form when they are
used as objects.
Subjects are what the sentence is about. (See more
about Subject Pronouns)
Objects are what is affected by the action of the
subject.
• I like orange juice. (I is the subject).
• I read books. (Books is the object as it is receiving
the action).
Object pronouns are used instead of nouns, usually because
we already know what the object is. It makes the sentence
easier to read and understand and avoids repetition. We
normally use object pronouns after a verb or a preposition.
THE OBJECT PRONOUN -
IT
Be careful when using 'it' as an object pronoun because it is
only in the correct context that it has meaning. It needs to have
already been mentioned or obvious to the listener what you are
referring to. Compare;
• You are sitting on it! (The listener probably doesn't know
what the speaker refers to).
• The letter is on the sofa. You are sitting on it! (It is obvious
in the second sentence that the reference is to the letter)
