English Grammar Online is intended for the general reader who wishes to familiarize himself with the basic elements of English grammar and improve his English language skills.
Monday, 2 January 2012
It (pronoun)
Is the milk hot or cold? It is hot.
Where is the house? It is over there.
Bring me the book. It is on the shelf.
Usage: the personal it is used instead of name of things and animals mentioned.
For study:
- Have a glass of milk, please. It is good.
- Help yourself to the cake. It is delicious.
- Would you like some coffee? It is good.
- Would you pass me the sugar? It is near your plate.
- Let’s have tea at once. It is on the table.
Demonstrative It
It is a flat.
Usage: the demonstrative it points out a person or thing expressed by the predicative noun.
For study:
- It is a sitting room.
- It is a bedroom.
- It is a kitchen.
- It is a table.
- It is a vacuum cleaner.
- It is my head.
- It is my hair.
- It is my nose.
- It is my chin.
- It is my mouth.
Emphatic It
It is my sister who (that) plays the piano.
It is in the tent that we like sleep in summer.
It was yesterday that we met our teacher.
Usage: the emphatic it serves to stress the subject, object or adverbial modifier in the sentence.
For study:
- It is my father who works as an engineer.
- It is my mother who does the shopping.
- It is my brother that is Jack of all trades.
- It is my sister that studies English.
- It is in the living room that we like to gather in the evening.
- It is Sunday that we leave for the country.
- It’ll be tomorrow that we shall meet.
Introductory It
It is nice to move to a new flat.
It is his business to take the linen to the laundry.
It is wonderful sleeping in a tent.
It is important that Ann should answer the letter.
Usage: the introductory it introduces sentences the subject of which is expressed by an infinitive, gerund, or a subordinate clause*.
For study:
- It is pleasant to attend a house-warming party.
- It is necessary to have a refrigerator.
- It is important to keep it in order.
- It is wonderful sitting at the fireplace.
- It is easy keeping the flat well-aired.
- It is advisable that we should buy a washing maching.
- It is a pleasure to talk with you.
Impersonal It
a) natural phenomena
b) time
a)
1. It is cold.
2. It is frosty.
3. It is warm.
4. It snows hard.
5. It gets cold.
6. It grows dark.
b)
1. It is morning.
2. It is early.
3. It is 5 o’clock.
4. It is autumn.
5. It is the first of September.
6. It is dinner time.
----- 1. It is cold.
2. It is frosty.
3. It is warm.
4. It snows hard.
5. It gets cold.
6. It grows dark.
b)
1. It is morning.
2. It is early.
3. It is 5 o’clock.
4. It is autumn.
5. It is the first of September.
6. It is dinner time.
*According to another approach it is the subject of the sentence and the infinitive, gerund or subordinate clause is a part of a predicate.
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