Feb 19, 2017 · This is the correct form. "It" is a dummy subject in this sentence. One way to figure out the correct structure is to rework the sentence to avoid the dummy subject. If you did that, …

Although idiot and dummy do commonly have the same meaning, the use of idiot in this joking phrase draws particular attention to a specific sense of idiot. From Merriam-Webster's …

The omission of the dummy pronoun "it" in the subject position is valid and relatively common in speech. This is addressed in The Cambridge Grammar of The English Language (Huddleston …

Apr 2, 2022 · Yes he does. This is a dummy it, but there is no "existential" it. There's an existential there, which comes from There-Insertion. There are several dummy it's, but this one is the it …

Dec 6, 2023 · The grammatical subject of the whole sentence is the dummy pronoun "it". Within the infinitival clause is the further subordinate clause, "drinking", whose understood (semantic) …

Mar 17, 2025 · This question is similar to: How can I tell whether an "it" is a dummy "it" in this sentence?. If you believe it’s different, please edit the question, make it clear how it’s different …

Oct 28, 2017 · Here is my question. If something exists in some place then we use adverbs of place. So adverbs can fulfill the use of existence or presence of something. Then why we need …

May 20, 2025 · If we want to use the word in the square brackets as an adjective, we need to add the dummy subject (it's). Or we can use the word in the square brackets as a verb, in this …

Dec 12, 2023 · "Dummy it refers to nothing at all; it simply serves a grammatical function. In other words, dummy it has a grammatical meaning but no lexical meaning." Here, there are clear …

Jun 9, 2021 · In English, existential clauses usually use the dummy subject construction (also known as expletive) with there, as in "There are boys in the yard"… In the OP's sentence, the …