May 20, 2020 · Although idiot and dummy do commonly have the same meaning, the use of idiot in this joking phrase draws particular attention to a specific sense of idiot. From Merriam …

Nov 4, 2022 · Initial There's is OK before anything. When it's at the beginning of the sentence, it's just a dummy, with no meaning or plural, and it's reified into one word before anything plural …

Dec 12, 2023 · "Dummy it refers to nothing at all; it simply serves a grammatical function. In other words, dummy it has a grammatical meaning but no lexical meaning." Here, there are clear …

May 3, 2024 · The "it" does not represent a semantic argument and cannot be replaced by any other noun phrase. There is no question of dummy "it" being a preparatory element, since the …

Oct 28, 2017 · Here is my question. If something exists in some place then we use adverbs of place. So adverbs can fulfill the use of existence or presence of something. Then why we need …

Apr 20, 2016 · It is sunny. (impersonal subject) It is difficult to learn English. (dummy subject or place holder) In Korea, we learn that dummy subject and impersonal subject are different. But, I …

Jun 9, 2021 · 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 …

Jan 5, 2016 · Footnote: "there" isn't the dummy subject in these greetings. "There" is a dummy subject mostly in constructions there is or there are, or before certain verbs in certain contexts.

Sep 20, 2023 · It's not a dummy as it does actually refer to something specific. The second is the same, although calling it anticipatory seems a bit odd. Both could be rewritten as "You joining …

Dec 6, 2023 · The grammatical subject of the whole sentence is the dummy pronoun "it". Within the infinitival clause is the further subordinate clause, "drinking", whose understood (semantic) …