Dummy It
B1 · IntermediateSentence Structure & ClausesIt's raining. It's five o'clock. It's ten miles away. It's hard to say. 'It' fills the subject slot without pointing to anything.
What you'll learn
- 'It' fills the subject position for weather ('It's raining') and time ('It's five o'clock') even though it doesn't refer to a specific thing
- 'It' also introduces distance ('It's ten miles away')
- 'It' can introduce a judgment or fact about something that comes later in the sentence ('It's important to arrive early')
- This 'dummy it' is different from 'there is/are,' which introduces something that exists — see There Is and There Are
'It' with nothing to point to
English clauses need a subject, even when there's no real thing for that subject to refer to. 'Dummy it' fills that empty subject slot for weather, time, and distance — it doesn't stand for any specific noun.
Weather, time, and distance
This 'it' is the standard way to talk about weather, clock time, and distance in English — there's no way to say these things without it.
'It' introducing a judgment or fact
'It' can also start a sentence that comments on something described later, often with an infinitive or a 'that' clause — this lets the real content come after the judgment.
Real English
Watch out
English clauses always need a subject — 'it' can't be dropped even when it doesn't refer to anything specific.
Weather descriptions need the dummy subject 'it' plus a verb — a bare adjective isn't a full sentence.
Use 'there is' to introduce the existence of a problem: 'There's a problem with the printer.' 'It's a problem with the printer' can also be grammatical when 'it' refers to an already known situation and identifies what the problem is; it does not introduce existence in the same way.
Real life — Planning a trip
"How far is it to the airport?"
"It's about forty minutes by car, so it's probably best to leave by six."
"It's supposed to rain in the morning too."
"Then it's a good thing we're not walking."
Practice
Exercise 1 · Complete with 'it'
Complete: ___'s raining outside.
Exercise 2 · Choose the correct word
'What time is it?' — '___ is five o'clock.'
Exercise 3 · Choose the correct word
'How far is the station?' — '___ is about two miles away.'
Exercise 4 · Choose the correct word
'___ is important to arrive early.'
Exercise 5 · Choose the correct word
'___ seems that she already left.'
Exercise 6 · Choose what 'it' refers to
'It's cold today.' — Here, what does 'it' refer to?
Exercise 7 · Choose the correct word
'___'s a problem with the printer.'
Exercise 8 · Choose the correct word
'___ takes about an hour to get downtown.'
Exercise 9 · Complete with 'it'
Complete: ___'s 500 kilometers to the coast.
Exercise 10 · Choose the correct word
'___ is likely to rain later.'
Exercise 11 · Sort into groups
0 / 6 sorted
Quick challenge
Five quick questions to check what stuck.
Question 1 / 5
Score: 0/0
'___'s Tuesday today.'
You learned
- 'It' fills the subject slot for weather and time, even though it points to nothing specific.
- 'It' also introduces distance.
- 'It' can introduce a judgment or fact that's explained later in the sentence.
- Dummy 'it' is different from 'there is/are,' which introduces something that exists.
Related grammar lessons
Sentence Elements
Learn to identify the building blocks of a clause — Subject, Verb, Object, Complement, and Adverbial.
Clauses
Learn independent vs. dependent clauses, and how combining them builds simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences.
Word Order
Learn why English keeps a fixed Subject-Verb-Object order, how to order two objects after a verb, and how fronting works for emphasis.
Finite vs. Non-finite Clauses
Learn the difference between finite clauses (with a tensed verb) and non-finite clauses (built around to-infinitives or participles), and how non-finite clauses work as subject, object, or modifier.