Level: beginner
English clauses always have a subject:
His father has just retired. > He was a teacher. (NOT
Was a teacher.)
I'm waiting for my wife. > She is late. (NOTIs late.)
... except for the imperative:
Go away.
Play it again, please.
there
If there is no other subject, we use there to talk about:
- where or when something is:
There's an interesting book on the shelf.
There'll be an eclipse of the moon tonight.
- a number or amount:
There is plenty of bread left.
There were twenty people at the meeting.
- something existing or happening:
There's a small problem.
There was a nasty fight.
it
We use it to talk about:
- times and dates:
It's nearly one o'clock.
It's my birthday.
- the weather:
It's raining.
It's a lovely day.
It was getting cold.
We use it with the verb be and an –ing form or to-infinitive to express opinions:
It's great living here.
It's nice to meet you.
- Subjects of sentences
- it and there as dummy subjects 1
- it and there as dummy subjects 2
Average
Hello H_L,
As I said, subject is a grammatical category within the sentence. You need to identify which word controls the verb. There may be more than one word which agrees with the verb in the sentence - there may be several singular nouns, for example - but the subject (word or phrase) is the one which controls the verb. In other words, the subject is the word or phrase which can make the verb change if it is changed.
In the end, you need to look at the sentence and at how its elements interact. In English there is no marker which identifies the subject in isolation, unlike in some other languages.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Wiz4it
There are different ways of referring to these kinds of structures, but the one I'm most familiar with is the one used on this page: the idea of sentences with 'dummy subjects' (follow the link to see an explanation on another site). So you could speak of sentences with 'it' as a dummy subject or sentences with 'there' as a dummy subject. As far as I know, 'there' is an adverb in this kind of sentence, and 'it' is a pronoun, though I expect others might say they are both pronouns of a sort.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello goldenmine,
Could you provide us with an example in context, please? If you can give us the whole sentence you have in mind then we'll be happy to try to help, but it's a little difficult analysing the grammar of such a small fragment.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello braam,
'There' can have a number of functions in the sentence. It can be an adverb, for example, or an indefinite pronoun. Do you have a particular example in mind? We'll be happy to identify its use in any particular context.
You can read about the various roles 'there' can play on this page:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/there
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello sam61
In general -- in other words, unless the context indicates otherwise -- the sentences would mean the same thing and would indicate the perspective of the person who wrote or spoke them. If you wanted to talk about it being important for 'them', i.e. that those people consider it important, you could say, for example, 'For them, it is important to be there'. But even in this case, I would want to emphasise this with another statement clarifying exactly who it is important for (e.g. 'For the parents of very young children, it is important for them to witness their child's first step.').
I would say the same thing about the second pair of sentences you ask about.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Iwona_Z,
If you want to point out twins to the person you are speaking to, I'd suggest something like 'Look at those twins over there!' or 'Look at the Johnson twins over there!'
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello iphie,
The second pair of examples (with 'it') are correct. Verbs in English sentences generally require subjects and the examples of 'it' in those examples are the subjects.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello aliali20054,
Both of these phrases are quite common when we meet someone for the first time and I don't think there is any real difference in meaning. Both can refer to past, present or future.
After the first meeting we would use the verb 'see' rather than 'meet':
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Smiles,
I'm afraid English is not consistent in how it regards lists of items.
When the verb comes before the list it agrees with the closest noun to it (i.e. the first in the list):
However, when the verb follows the list it is always plural, even if each individual item in the list is singular:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi smiles,
When the first item in the list is singular, we use a singular verb. In your example, There is is the correct form.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Valentina,
I'm afraid we had a few technical problems with the exercises but everything should be working correctly now.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello hoamuoigio,
If you say it will not be time for lunch then you mean that the time on the clock is not the time at which you usually have lunch or at which lunch is scheduled. It is a statement about what time it is, not how much time you have.
If you say there will not be time for lunch then you are talking about how much time you have available and whether or not it is sufficient for lunch.
In the context of a train leaving the second sentence (with there) makes more sense, I would say.
In your second example, again you could use either option but, again, the meaning changes and the sentence also needs to be changed:
There's a funny smell here, it's turpentine.
In this sentence you are talking about what the smell is. The two statements (there is a funny smell and the smell is turpentine) are directly connected because the pronoun 'it' refers back to the noun 'the smell'.
There's a funny smell here, there's some turpentine.
In this sentence you are talking about the presence of turpentine. Obviously, the listener would understand that the two statements (there is a funny smell and there is some turpentine) are connected, but it is implied rather than directly stated. 'Some' is necessary here for the sentence to be grammatically correct.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Khadhar,
It's difficult to give a good answer without knowing more about the situation or what you mean, but yes, since it sounds like this is a finished past event, it should probably be 'It was an exciting moment when we visited our village. It was a lot of fun'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi hawa100,
The first sentence is not correct, i.e. the sentence without 'it' at the end is the correct one. This is because the object of 'without' is 'that' and if you put 'it' at the end, it is repeated, which causes confusion.
By the way, I would recommend using 'a' before 'very important thing'. It would also sound more natural to say 'we cannot live without' at the end.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Van Hua,
'your mum's birthday' is like a date, which is why 'is' is correct here. It might help to think that in sentences with dummy subjects, 'it' usually identifies something and 'there' says that something exists.
Hope that helps!
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Niteesh,
The best way to say this depends on who is speaking.
If someone else (not Niteesh) is saying it:
If Niteesh is speaking:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello appu,
Why don't you tell us what you think the answer is and why this is the case, and we'll be happy to tell you if you are right or not. Trying to work it out for yourself is a much more effective way to learn.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Queenie-Chan,
Both of the first two phrases are commonly used. For example, 'The car won't start. It's no use (to try anymore) or 'There's no use in wasting our time trying to start the car'.
I'm afraid the other two phrases are not correct. 'there's no denying' is a common phrase -- you can see a definition and example sentence in the Cambridge Dictionary entry for 'deny'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team