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- idioms - English Language Learners Stack Exchange
{ verb + dummy "it" + so + declarative } - I managed to find only two verbs which can be used in this construction: "arrange" and "make" So I drew the conclusion that all other verbs cannot license (permit) "it" as a dummy pronoun here, only as an ordinary one
- How to correctly use important to and important for?
The best general rule that this US English speaker can think of from a grammar point of view is It is important for me to verb (where it is a dummy subject) Noun is important to me For example, "It is important for me to eat well " "The quality of the local school is very important to me " (I really wish I could find a good Google Ngrams search to illustrate this, but Ngrams has some severe
- Using they in tag questions with everybody nobody etc
In English, existential clauses usually use the dummy subject construction (also known as expletive) with there, as in "There are boys in the yard"… In the OP's sentence, the subject is not "nobody" but there (is) Consequently, the rule dictates that you should repeat the same subject used in the clause to make a question tag
- Is Is there to meet you tomorrow possible possible?
It uses the dummy subject, an adjective "possible" and the infinitive phrase to complete the predicate "possible to meet you" The second is poor English The infinitive in the subject is clumsy "Meeting you would be possible" is a better sentence The third is not correct English The phrase "to meet you" doesn't appear as the complement of
- Which is correct in spoken language, not exist or not exists?
Neither is a correctly formed utterance If you're asked: Does photographic memory exist? The shortest answer is simply "No " If you want to use a complete sentence, replace the subject with the pronoun it and add the dummy auxiliary do so you can negate it and omit the verb: No, it doesn't I'm afraid that neither of the options you've given is correct
- word usage - Explanation of does there exist? - English Language . . .
Often in English, we do get clarity by combining multiple ways of suggesting the same thing, but combining dummy there with exist sounds overly wordy I don't know if there is a principled explanation for why
- grammar - How many stops is it are there to the park? - English . . .
The difference between dummy "there" and dummy "it" is in the degree of abstraction The locative dummy is the more tangible of the two So, the idiomatic question "How many stops is it before we get off?" is projecting to the listener the idea that the questioner would like to know a particular fact
- How to use get late? - English Language Learners Stack Exchange
The it is called a dummy pronoun and refers to a time Dummy pronouns are used a lot in English: "It's odd that you think my letter is good " However, a person is late A person does not "get late" A person can get other things though: get rich, get poor, get tired In this usage the verb get means become I am late for school
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