word meaning - Difference between "idiot" and "dummy"?
May 20, 2020 · The word "dummy" carries with it the connotation of the verb "dummy" (to trick by pretending to pass a ball), so the additional connotation of dummy, that idiot doesn't have, is …
pronouns - What exactly is a dummy-it? - English Language …
Dec 12, 2023 · In other words, dummy it has a grammatical meaning but no lexical meaning." Here, there are clear meanings and referents: a movie and a reading. (Note, "a reading" …
grammar - why we need dummy subjects and it's usage? - English …
Oct 28, 2017 · I'm not sure I understand. I don't think it's necessarily a dummy subject; I think it's an inversion or, at least, in its original sense, it was probably an inversion: "There is the book!" …
"There is some" or "There are some"- which is correct?
Nov 5, 2022 · By the time the real subject comes along, plural or not, the listener will've forgotten how the sentence started. Since it didn't start with anything meaningful except the dummy …
Using "they" in tag questions with everybody/nobody etc
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 …
It's - English Language Learners Stack Exchange
Mar 30, 2021 · This is an extraposed construction, where the subject is the dummy pronoun “it” and the adjective “important” is predicative complement of “is”. The infinitival clause “to take a …
grammar - formal subject & real subject in "It's obvious where our ...
Jul 13, 2014 · The grammatical subject is the dummy pronoun "It". The expression "where our interest lies" is a subordinate content clause, which is called by some grammars (e.g. CGEL) …
word meaning - "Hi there!" -- What does this 'there' mean?
Jan 5, 2016 · I don't think there refers to the position that the other person is in the same way as the dummy there doesn't refer to any position as in "There is a book on the table." Only on the …
Omission of subject -- Can we omit 'it' (subjective) in any cases?
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 …
pronouns - Can 'it' be used to refer to a person? - English …
Oct 8, 2016 · The Wikipedia page on dummy pronouns expressly states: "Unlike a regular pronoun of English, it cannot be replaced by any noun phrase (except for, rhetorically …