C. IMPERSONAL “IT” AND INTRODUCTORY “THERE”
According to Thomson and Martinet (1986: 77-80 and119-121) the followings are some examples helping to prevent confusion between the two forms, it is and there is.
- it is+adjective; there is+noun
1) It is foggy or There is a fog.
2) It was very wet or There was a lot of rain.
3) It won’t be very sunny or There won’t be much sun.
- It is, there is of distance and time
4) It is a long way to York.
5) There is along way still to go. (We have many miles still go)
6) It is the time to go home. (We always start home at six and it is six now)
7) There is time for us to go home and come back here again before the film starts. (That amount of time exists)
- It is, used for identify, and there is+noun/pronoun
8) There is someone at the door. I think it’s the man to read the meters
9) There’s a key here. Is it the key of the safe?
- It is, used in cleft sentences (It was Peter who lent us the book. (not Paul), and there is
10) It is the grandmother who makes the decisions. (the grandmother, not any other member of family)
11) ……… and there’s the grandmother, who lives in the granny-flat (the grandmother exists)
When a noun representing an indifinite person or things is the subject of the verb be, we normally use a there+be+noun construction. We can say A policeman is at the door but There is a policeman at the door would be more useful.
Note that:
Though there appears to be the subject, the real subject is the noun that follows the verb, and if this noun is plural the verb must be plural too.
There are two policemen at the door.
In the above sentences both constructions (noun + be and there + be + noun) are possible. But when be is used to mean exist/happen/take place the there construction is necessary:
There is a mistake/There are mistakes in this translation
These sentences could not be rewritten A mistake is/Mistakes are etc.
In the following examples (R) is placed after the example when the there construction is replaceable by noun/pronoun + verb:
There have been several break-ins this year.
There will be plenty of room for everyone
There were hundreds of people on the beach. (R)
There can be used similarly with someone/anyone/no one/something etc.
There’s someone on the phone for you. (R)
There + be + something/nothing/anything + adjective in also possible:
Is there anything wrong (with your car)? (R) –
No, there’s nothing wrong with it. (R)
There’s something odd/strange about this letter.
A noun or someone/something etc. could be followed by a relative clause.
There’s a film I want to see. There’s something I must say.
or by an infinitive:
There’s nothing to do. (nothing that we can do/must do)
The there construction can be used with another auxiliary + be:
There must be no doubt about this. There may be a letter for me
or with seem + be, appear + be:
There seems to be something wrong here.
There used as above is always in stressed.
Be careful not to confuse there used in this way with there, stressed, used as an adverb:
‘There’s a man I want to see. (He is standing by the door.)
Compare with:
There’s a man I want to see. (This man exists.)
USES OF IT
It is normally used of a thing or an animal whose sex we don’t know, and sometimes of a baby or small child:
Where’s my map? I left it on the table.
Look at that bird. It always comes to my window.
Her new baby is tiny. It only weighs 2 kilos.
It can be used of people in sentences such as:
ANN (on phone): Who is that/Who is it?
BILL: It’s me.
Is that Tom over there? – No, it’s Peter.
It is used in expression of time, distance, weather, temperature, tide:
What time is it? – It is six.
What’s the date? – It’s the third of March.
How far is it to York? – It is 400 kilometers.
How long does it take to get there? – It depends on how you go.
It is raining/snowing/freezing. It is frosty. It’s a fine night.
It’s a full moon tonight. In winter it’s/it is dark at six o’clock.
It is hot/cold/quiet/noisy in this room.
It’s high tide/low tide.
Note also:
It’s/It is three years since I saw him =
I haven’t seen him for three years
(For it is time + subject + past tense)
Introductory it
It can introduce sentences of the following type (‘cleft sentences’):
It was ‘Peter who lent us the money. (not Paul)
It’s ‘today that he’s going. (not tomorrow)
It is used even with a plural noun:
It’s ‘pilots that we need, not ground staff.
When an infinitive is a subject of a sentence, we usually begin the sentence with it and put the infinitive later; i.e. we say:
It is easy to criticize instead of
To criticize is easy.
It is better to be early instead of
To be early is better.
It seems a pity to give up now instead of
To give up now seems a pity.
If it + be is preceded by find/think (that), that be and the that can often by omitted:
He thought (that) it (would be) better to say nothing.
We found it impossible to get visas.
It can be used similarly when the subject of a sentence is a clause. It would be possible to say:
That he hasn’t phoned is odd.
That prices will go up is certain.
But it would be much more usual to say:
It’s odd that he hasn’t phoned.
It’s certain that prices will go up.
Other examples:
It never occurred to me that perhaps he was lying.
It struck me that everyone was unusually silent.
it/this can be represent a previously mentioned phrase, clause or verb.
He smokes in bed, though I don’t like it. (it = his smoking in bed)
He suggested flying, but I thought it would cost too much. (it = flying)
It also acts as a subject for impersonal verbs:
It seems it appears it looks it happens
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