Blog about English
Using it and there as introductory or anticipatory subjects.
Dummy pronouns fill the subject position without referring to a specific person or thing.
The two main dummy pronouns in English are it and there.
It is raining outside.
На улице идет дождь.
"It" is a dummy pronoun because it does not refer to a specific thing.
There is a problem with the computer.
С компьютером проблема.
"There" introduces the existence of a problem rather than referring to a specific place.
It is five o'clock.
Сейчас пять часов.
"It" fills the subject position in a statement about time.
There are two messages on your phone.
На твоем телефоне два сообщения.
"There" introduces the existence of two messages.
It is important to get enough sleep.
Важно достаточно спать.
"It" introduces the infinitive clause "to get enough sleep".
There was a long line outside the store.
У магазина была длинная очередь.
"There" introduces the existence of a line.
It seems that we are late.
Похоже, мы опоздали.
"It" is a dummy subject in the reporting structure "it seems that...".
There is no reason to worry.
Нет причин волноваться.
"There" introduces the existence or absence of a reason.
Dummy it functions as the grammatical subject without referring to a particular noun.
It is commonly used with weather, time, distance and general situations.
It is cold today.
Сегодня холодно.
"It" is a dummy subject because it does not refer to a particular thing.
It is already midnight.
Уже полночь.
"It" is used to express the time.
It is ten miles to the nearest town.
До ближайшего города десять миль.
"It" is used in an expression of distance.
It is Monday today.
Сегодня понедельник.
"It" is used when stating the day or date.
It snowed last night.
Прошлой ночью шел снег.
"It" is required in ordinary English weather expressions.
It was sunny all afternoon.
Весь день было солнечно.
"It" fills the subject position in a weather expression.
It is two hours from here to Chicago.
Отсюда до Чикаго два часа езды.
"It" is used for an expression of travel distance or time.
It is 30 degrees outside.
На улице 30 градусов.
"It" is used to state the temperature.
English normally uses dummy it to describe weather conditions.
Examples include It is raining, It is windy and It snowed yesterday.
It is raining outside.
На улице идет дождь.
"It" is the normal dummy subject in a rain expression.
It is snowing heavily.
Идет сильный снег.
"It" is used even though it does not refer to anything specific.
It is windy today.
Сегодня ветрено.
"It" is required with this weather description.
It was cloudy this morning.
Сегодня утром было облачно.
"It" fills the grammatical subject position.
It will be sunny tomorrow.
Завтра будет солнечно.
"It" is used with a future weather prediction.
It looks like it is going to rain.
Похоже, скоро пойдет дождь.
The expression "it looks like..." can introduce a weather prediction.
It got colder after sunset.
После заката стало холоднее.
"It" is used with a change in weather or temperature.
It was freezing outside this morning.
Сегодня утром на улице было очень холодно.
"It" is used with an extreme weather description.
Dummy it is used to express time, dates, distance and temperature.
Examples include It is late, It is Monday, It is five kilometres away and It is 30 degrees.
It is five o'clock.
Сейчас пять часов.
"It" is used to express the current time.
It is almost noon.
Почти полдень.
"It" is used with a time expression.
It is August 22.
Сегодня 22 августа.
"It" can introduce a date.
It is ten miles to the airport.
До аэропорта десять миль.
"It" is used in an expression of distance.
It is about 20 miles from here to the next town.
Отсюда до следующего города около 20 миль.
"It" introduces a distance measured from one place to another.
It is 30 degrees outside.
На улице 30 градусов.
"It" is used to state the temperature.
It was 10 degrees below zero last night.
Прошлой ночью было 10 градусов ниже нуля.
"It" is used with a temperature expression.
It is only a short walk from here.
Отсюда совсем недалеко идти пешком.
"It" introduces an expression describing distance.
Dummy it often introduces infinitive or that-clauses.
Examples include It is important to study and It is obvious that she is right.
It is important to get enough sleep.
Важно достаточно спать.
"It" introduces the infinitive clause "to get enough sleep".
It is difficult to find a good apartment here.
Здесь трудно найти хорошую квартиру.
"It" fills the subject position while the real subject is the infinitive clause.
It is nice to see you again.
Приятно снова тебя видеть.
"It" introduces the infinitive clause "to see you again".
It is obvious that she is right.
Очевидно, что она права.
"It" introduces the that-clause "that she is right".
It is possible that the meeting will be canceled.
Возможно, собрание отменят.
"It" introduces a clause describing what is possible.
It is surprising that nobody noticed.
Удивительно, что никто не заметил.
"It" introduces the following that-clause.
It was hard to believe the news.
Было трудно поверить в эту новость.
"It" provides a grammatical subject for the sentence.
It is clear that we need more time.
Очевидно, что нам нужно больше времени.
"It" introduces the clause expressing what is clear.
Dummy there introduces the existence of someone or something.
Examples include There is a problem and There were several guests.
There is a problem with the printer.
С принтером проблема.
"There" introduces the existence of a problem.
There are two restaurants near my office.
Рядом с моим офисом есть два ресторана.
"There" introduces the existence of two restaurants.
There was a long line at the bank.
В банке была длинная очередь.
"There" introduces the existence of a line.
There were several people in the waiting room.
В комнате ожидания было несколько человек.
"There" introduces the existence of several people.
There is nothing in the refrigerator.
В холодильнике ничего нет.
"There" introduces the absence of anything in the refrigerator.
There are some files on the desktop.
На рабочем столе есть несколько файлов.
"There" introduces the existence of some files.
There was an accident on the highway.
На шоссе произошла авария.
"There" introduces a newly mentioned event or situation.
There will be a meeting tomorrow.
Завтра будет собрание.
"There" can introduce something expected to exist in the future.
With existential there, the verb agrees with the following noun phrase.
Compare There is a book with There are two books.
There is a book on the table.
На столе лежит книга.
The singular noun "a book" takes singular "is".
There are two books on the table.
На столе лежат две книги.
The plural noun "two books" takes plural "are".
There is a car outside.
Снаружи стоит машина.
The singular noun phrase "a car" requires "is".
There are several cars outside.
Снаружи стоит несколько машин.
The plural noun phrase "several cars" takes "are".
There was a problem with the payment.
С оплатой возникла проблема.
The singular noun phrase takes "was".
There were several problems with the payment.
С оплатой возникло несколько проблем.
The plural noun phrase takes "were".
There has been a change in the schedule.
В расписании произошло изменение.
The singular noun phrase "a change" takes singular agreement.
There have been several changes in the schedule.
В расписании произошло несколько изменений.
The plural noun phrase "several changes" takes plural agreement.
Dummy it does not refer to a noun, while referential it replaces a previously mentioned thing or idea.
Compare It is cold today with I bought a phone. It is very fast.
It is cold today.
Сегодня холодно.
This "it" is dummy because it does not refer to a specific noun.
I bought a new phone. It is very fast.
Я купил новый телефон. Он очень быстрый.
Here "it" refers back to the previously mentioned phone.
It is five o'clock.
Сейчас пять часов.
This "it" does not refer to a particular object; it fills the subject position.
I found a wallet. It was under the table.
Я нашел кошелек. Он был под столом.
Here "it" refers to "a wallet".
It is difficult to explain the problem.
Трудно объяснить эту проблему.
This "it" introduces the following infinitive clause and has no concrete referent.
I opened the window because it was hot.
Я открыл окно, потому что было жарко.
This "it" is dummy and refers to the general weather or temperature situation.
I bought a laptop yesterday. It has a large screen.
Я купил ноутбук вчера. У него большой экран.
The second "it" refers specifically to "a laptop".
It seems that the server is down.
Похоже, сервер не работает.
This "it" is dummy and introduces a reporting structure.
Both dummy it and dummy there are common in all varieties of English, although informal speech sometimes uses contractions.
Examples include It's obvious and There's two people waiting, even when the following noun is plural.
It is obvious that we need more time.
Очевидно, что нам нужно больше времени.
The full form "it is" is neutral and appropriate in all registers.
It's obvious that we need more time.
Очевидно, что нам нужно больше времени.
"It's" is a common contraction in speech and informal writing.
There are two people waiting outside.
Снаружи ждут два человека.
Plural agreement with "there are" is the standard form.
There's two people waiting outside.
Снаружи ждут два человека.
Singular "there's" with a plural noun is common in informal speech, but it is not the standard formal form.
There is a problem with the account.
С аккаунтом проблема.
Singular agreement is standard with "a problem".
There's a problem with the account.
С аккаунтом проблема.
"There's" is the normal spoken contraction of "there is".
There will be several changes next year.
В следующем году будет несколько изменений.
The full form is preferred in careful formal writing.
There'll be several changes next year.
В следующем году будет несколько изменений.
"There'll" is a common contraction in conversational English.
Dummy it frequently appears in formal academic and written English with passive and reporting structures.
Examples include It is believed that..., It has been suggested that... and It seems that....
It is believed that the company will expand next year.
Считается, что компания расширится в следующем году.
"It is believed that..." is a formal passive reporting structure.
It has been suggested that the policy should change.
Было высказано предположение, что политику следует изменить.
"It has been suggested that..." introduces a formal reported idea.
It is expected that prices will rise.
Ожидается, что цены вырастут.
"It is expected that..." is common in formal reports and forecasts.
It was reported that the bridge had been closed.
Сообщалось, что мост был закрыт.
"It was reported that..." introduces information attributed to a report.
It seems that the problem has been fixed.
Похоже, проблема была устранена.
"It seems that..." presents an inference or impression.
It appears that the server is offline.
Похоже, сервер не в сети.
"It appears that..." is a formal reporting structure.
It has been reported that several flights were canceled.
Сообщается, что несколько рейсов были отменены.
"It has been reported that..." is common in formal news-style writing.
It is widely believed that exercise improves health.
Широко считается, что физические упражнения улучшают здоровье.
"It is widely believed that..." is a formal passive reporting construction.
Many common English expressions contain dummy pronouns.
Examples include It depends, It looks like..., There is no doubt that... and There is no point in....
It depends on the weather.
Это зависит от погоды.
"It depends" is a common fixed expression.
It looks like we are going to be late.
Похоже, мы опоздаем.
"It looks like..." is a common expression for giving an impression.
There is no doubt that she is qualified.
Нет сомнений, что она квалифицирована.
"There is no doubt that..." is a common fixed structure.
There is no point in arguing about it.
Нет смысла спорить об этом.
"There is no point in..." is a fixed expression meaning that an action is useless.
It does not matter.
Это не имеет значения.
"It does not matter" is a common expression used when something is unimportant.
It depends on what you mean.
Это зависит от того, что ты имеешь в виду.
"It depends on..." is used when the answer changes according to a condition.
There is no reason to panic.
Нет причин паниковать.
"There is no reason to..." is a common structure introducing the absence of a reason.
It turns out that the information was wrong.
Оказывается, информация была неправильной.
"It turns out that..." introduces a fact discovered later.
Use dummy pronouns where English requires a grammatical subject.
Common mistakes include omitting it, confusing dummy and referential it, incorrect agreement after there and translating directly from languages that allow subject omission.
It is raining.
Идет дождь.
English normally requires dummy "it" in this weather expression.
It is important to be on time.
Важно прийти вовремя.
Use dummy "it" to fill the subject position before the infinitive clause.
There is a problem with the payment.
С оплатой проблема.
Use "there is" with the singular noun phrase "a problem".
There are several problems with the payment.
С оплатой есть несколько проблем.
Use "there are" with the plural noun phrase "several problems".
I bought a phone. It is very fast.
Я купил телефон. Он очень быстрый.
Here "it" is referential and replaces the previously mentioned noun "phone".
It is cold outside.
На улице холодно.
Here "it" is dummy and does not refer to a particular object.
There is nothing in the box.
В коробке ничего нет.
Do not omit existential "there" in the standard English structure.
There have been several changes this year.
В этом году произошло несколько изменений.
With present perfect, agreement follows the plural noun phrase "several changes".