It's 4pm on Friday.

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It's 4pm on Friday.

Empty 'It'

Beginner

After this lesson, you will be better at using the word 'it' to speak about topics such as the weather, time, and your opinions.

Exercise 1

Sentence Practice

It's 8 in the morning.
It's snowing outside.
It's too cold in this room!

Grammar Focus

Non-Human Subject Pronoun 'It'

We have studied 'it' as a way to refer to a non-human subject pronoun. It replaces something that has been mentioned before or is implied from the context:

There is a village nearby. The village is ten kilometers south of here.
→ There is a village nearby. It’s ten kilometers south of here.

Empty 'It'

Sometimes however, the word 'it' is a 'dummy subject' or an 'empty it'. It does not refer to anything, but is needed in the sentence for grammatical reasons. We use an 'empty it' to do the following:

1. Talk about the Weather

It is sunny today.
It snowed yesterday.
It is hot in the Philippines.

2. Say a Time or Date

	Nina What time is it?
	Matt It is five o’clock.

	Anne It is my birthday next week. My family is coming to celebrate.
	Jim That's great!

3. Give an Opinion about a Place

It's cold in here; could you turn on the heating?
It's nice here. (= I like this place)

4. Identify People

	Matt Look, it's Anna!
	Nina Oh! Let's go say hi!

(on the phone)
	Anne Hello?
	Jim Hi, it’s Jim!

Exercise 2

Sentence Practice

It’s seven o’clock in the morning.
It rained heavily last night.
It’s sunny today.
It’s very cold in here.
Is it Monday tomorrow? Yes, it is.
It’s getting dark outside.

Exercise 3

Dialogue Practice

Read the dialogues aloud with your tutor.

	Teacher What time is it now?
	High School Student It's three thirty.

	Teacher What time is it?
	High School Student It's ten thirty. We should go home soon.

	Teacher Is it cloudy outside?
	High School Student Yes, it is. It might rain, so let's bring our umbrellas.

	Teacher Is it far?
	High School Student Yes, it's 20 kilometers from here.

	Teacher Can you get the boxes from the basement?
	High School Student I don't want to go to the basement. It's dark in there.

Exercise 4

Sentence Building

A child does not want to go to school. Help him make excuses using the empty it and the following words.

Example

my birthday today → "It's my birthday today! I don't want to go to school!"

too early
only 7 in the morning
too cold outside
too hot outside
snowing