Introductory It

It as empty subject: It's raining. It seems that... It's important to...

intermediate

When to Use

•Weather: It's raining. It's cold. It snowed yesterday.
•Time/distance: It's 3 o'clock. It's Monday. It's 5 miles to town.
•Opinions/feelings: It's important to... It's nice that... It seems that...
•Emphasis (cleft): It was John who called. It's the price that worries me.
•Anticipatory: It's easy to learn. (= To learn is easy.)

How to Form

Affirmative (+)

It + be + adjective/noun + to-infinitive/that-clause

Negative (-)

It + isn't + adjective + to/that...

Question (?)

Is it + adjective + to/that...?

💡 It doesn't refer to anything specific; it's a grammatical placeholder.

Examples

✓It's important to be on time.

✗Is important to be on time.

Need 'it' as subject.

✓It seems that she's upset.

✗Seems that she's upset.

It as dummy subject.

✓It takes two hours to get there.

✗Takes two hours to get there.

It for duration/distance.

Common Mistakes

💡 Practice Tips

• Weather: It's + weather word (raining, sunny, cold).
• Time/date: It's + time/day (3 o'clock, Monday).
• Opinions: It's + adjective + to/that (It's good to see you).
• It doesn't refer to anything; it's just grammatically required.

there-existential cleft-sentences gerunds-infinitives 📝 determiners-intermediate 📝 introductory-it-quiz

Introductory It

It as empty subject: It's raining. It seems that... It's important to...

intermediate

When to Use

•Weather: It's raining. It's cold. It snowed yesterday.
•Time/distance: It's 3 o'clock. It's Monday. It's 5 miles to town.
•Opinions/feelings: It's important to... It's nice that... It seems that...
•Emphasis (cleft): It was John who called. It's the price that worries me.
•Anticipatory: It's easy to learn. (= To learn is easy.)

How to Form

Affirmative (+)

It + be + adjective/noun + to-infinitive/that-clause

Negative (-)

It + isn't + adjective + to/that...

Question (?)

Is it + adjective + to/that...?

💡 It doesn't refer to anything specific; it's a grammatical placeholder.

Examples

✓It's important to be on time.

✗Is important to be on time.

Need 'it' as subject.

✓It seems that she's upset.

✗Seems that she's upset.

It as dummy subject.

✓It takes two hours to get there.

✗Takes two hours to get there.

It for duration/distance.

Common Mistakes

💡 Practice Tips

• Weather: It's + weather word (raining, sunny, cold).
• Time/date: It's + time/day (3 o'clock, Monday).
• Opinions: It's + adjective + to/that (It's good to see you).
• It doesn't refer to anything; it's just grammatically required.

there-existential cleft-sentences gerunds-infinitives 📝 determiners-intermediate 📝 introductory-it-quiz

Introductory It

When to Use

How to Form

Examples

Common Mistakes

💡 Practice Tips

Related

Introductory It

When to Use

How to Form

Examples

Common Mistakes

💡 Practice Tips

Related

When to Use

How to Form

Examples

Common Mistakes

✗Is raining.

✗Is difficult to understand.

✗That is important to study.

💡 Practice Tips

Related

When to Use

How to Form

Examples

Common Mistakes

✗Is raining.

✗Is difficult to understand.

✗That is important to study.

💡 Practice Tips

Related