There
We know that in statements subject to the sentence comes first. Sometimes the real subject of the sentence does not come in the beginning. It happens in the sentences which start with ‘there is/are’.
‘there’ in these sentences is called ‘preparatory subject’ or ‘Introductory subject’.
Example: there are five books on the table
We usually use ‘there’ as preparatory subject and put the real subject after the verb when we say that something lies somewhere.
There is a school in this village.
We can make negatives and questions from There + is/are sentences
Example: There is a man in the house
There is no man in the house
We can also make the question
There is a book on the table
Is there a book on the table?
Preparatory “It
“It” is also used as a subject in English sentences. Like ‘there’ ‘it’ sometimes postpone the real subject.
Example: It is not easy to find the way.
In the above sentence, the real subject is ‘it find’. But we generally do not write it as ‘To find the way is not easy’.
“It” is sometimes used as a subject for stress. There are called cleft sentences.
Example: it is you that I want.
It is Joy who has done it.
We use “it” as a meaningless subject with expressions that refer to time, weather, temperature, distance or the current situation. We call it empty subject.
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time
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It is ten ‘o’ clock.
It is Monday again.
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weather
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It is raining.
It is winter now.
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temperature
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It is 390c outside.
It is very hot today.
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distance
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It is ten miles from there.
It is far away.
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Situation
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It is very lonely here.
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