TKG English Learner's Dictionary

it

itpronoun

American /ɪt/ British /ɪt/
very commondefining vocabulary

It stands for a thing already known, or fills the subject place when a sentence needs one.

  1. a thingused for a thing, an animal, or an idea that has already been mentioned or is already known

    It is used for things and ideas, for an animal when its sex is not known or does not matter, and for a baby in the same way. For people, use he, she, or they. Its, with no apostrophe, is the possessive; it's is short for it is or it has.

    Compare one (one stands for any thing of the kind, it for the particular thing: I need a pen; do you have one? Where is my pen? Have you seen it?)

    1. aused for a person when asking or saying who someone is, especially at the door or on the phone

      • Who is it? It's me, Sam.
      • Hello, it's Kim here. Is Ana there?
      • Is it Sara at the door?

  2. weather and timeused as the subject of a sentence about the weather, the time, the date, or distance

    Almost every English sentence needs a subject (commands are the exception), and it fills that place when there is nothing else to put there: It is raining, not Is raining.

    Collocations

    phrase it is raining, it is cold, it is late, it is time to, it is a long way

  3. before the real subjectused at the start of a sentence in place of a longer subject, such as to plus a verb or a clause with that, which then comes later

    The real subject is the part after the adjective or noun: To say no is hard becomes It is hard to say no, which is far more natural in English. It seems, it appears, and it happens work the same way: It seems that nobody is home.

    Collocations

    phrase it is possible to, it is easy to, it seems that, it is worth, it takes time to

    1. aused as the object of a verb such as find, make, or think, when the real object is a clause or to plus a verb that comes later

  4. it was Sam whoused at the start of a sentence to point to one part of it, which is then followed by who, that, or which

    This structure, it is or it was plus the part that matters plus who or that, tells the listener where to put the attention: It was the price that worried me says the price, and not something else.

  5. the situationused for the situation or what is happening, without naming it

    Collocations

    phrase how's it going, that's it, it's up to you, it's over

Phrases

you're it games

you are the player who must chase and touch the others in a children's game

Said to, or by, the player chosen to chase the others in a game of tag. Be it and it alone (Who's it?) are also used this way.

Word family

Usage

It is usually used for a baby or an animal only when the sex is not known or does not matter; parents and owners usually say he or she. A country, a company, or a car is it in ordinary use.

Common mistakes

Is raining. It is raining.
A sentence about the weather needs it as its subject.
Is difficult to learn English. It is difficult to learn English.
It stands in for the real subject, to learn English, which comes later.
The dog wagged it's tail. The dog wagged its tail.
Its is the possessive; it's means it is or it has.

For translators

Meaning across languages Depending on the language, it is often expressed with a neuter pronoun, a demonstrative, or nothing at all. The empty subject uses (it is raining, it is true that) have no equivalent in many languages and are simply dropped in translation.
Grammar trap Many languages leave out an obvious subject, or have none for weather and time; English needs it: it is raining, it is late, it is true that. In languages with grammatical gender, an inanimate object may take the pronoun for a man or a woman; English uses it for every inanimate thing. Its is the possessive; it's means it is.
Pronunciation trap Its and it's sound exactly the same, ɪts; only the meaning tells them apart.