Adummy pronoun, also known as anexpletive pronoun, is apronoun that does notrefer to anything, and exists only to satisfy asyntactic requirement.^[1] For example, in the sentence "It rained" theEnglish pronoun "it" is generally analyzed as a dummy pronoun, inserted to fill the subject position, but not referring to anything.

The term 'dummy pronoun' refers to the function of a word in a particular sentence, not a property of individual words. For example, 'it' in the example from the previous paragraph is a dummy pronoun, but 'it' in the sentence "I bought asandwich and ateit" is a referential pronoun (referring to the sandwich).

Unlike a regular pronoun, dummy pronouns cannot be replaced by anynoun phrase.^[2]

Dummy pronouns are used in many languages across language families. Some of these families includeGermanic languages, such asGerman and English,^[3]Celtic languages, such asWelsh^[4] andIrish,^[5] andVolta-Niger languages, such asEwe^[6] andEsan.^[7] Other common languages with dummy pronouns includeFrench^[8] and, colloquially, inThai.^[9]Pronoun-dropping languages such asSpanish,Portuguese,Chinese, andTurkish do not require dummy pronouns.^[10]

One of the most common uses of dummy pronouns is with weather verbs, such as in the phrases "it is snowing" or "it is hot."^[11] In these sentences, the verb (to snow, to rain, etc.) is usually consideredsemanticallyimpersonal even though it appears syntacticallyintransitive; in this view, the requiredit in "it is snowing" is a dummy word that does not refer. In English literature, there is also marginal use of the feminineshe, such as in the phrase "She's going to rain."^[12]

Although the weatherit is frequently considered a dummy pronoun,^[13] there have been a few objections to this interpretation.Noam Chomsky has argued that theit employed as thesubject of Englishweather verbs can control the subject of anadjunct clause, just like a "normal" subject.^[14] For example, compare:

She brushes her teeth before having a bath.

→She brushes her teeth before she has a bath.

It sometimes rains after snowing.

→It sometimes rains after it snows.

If this analysis is accepted, then the "weatherit" is to be considered a "quasi-(verb)argument" and not a dummy word.

Somelinguists such asD. L. Bolinger go further, claiming that the "weatherit" simply refers to a general state of affairs in the context of the utterance.^[15] In this case, it would not be a dummy word at all. Possible evidence for this claim includes exchanges such as:

Was it nice (out) yesterday?

No, it rained.

whereit is implied to mean "the local weather".

Another common use of dummy pronouns in English is the use ofthere inexistential clauses, such as in the phrase "there are polar bears in Norway."^[16][17] This is also occasionally referred to as the anticipatorythere.^[18]

This should be distinguished from the locativethere, as in "I saw a polar bear overthere." This use ofthere acts as alocative adverb rather than a subject.^[19]

While the existential use ofthere has generally been analyzed as a subject,^[20] it has been proposed that elements like expletivethere inexistential sentences andpro-forms ininverse copular sentences play the role of dummy predicate rather than dummy subject, so that the postverbalnoun phrase would rather be the embedded subject of thesentence.^[21]

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Other examples of semantically empty pronouns are found withraising verbs in "unraised" counterparts.^[22] For example:

It seems that John lovescoffee. (Corresponding "raised" sentence:John seems to love coffee.)

There is a bird flying outside. (Corresponding "raised" sentence:A bird is flying outside.)

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Dummyit can also be found inextraposition constructions in English, a process known asit-extraposition.^[23] For example:

It is funliving in Paris. (Corresponding non-extraposed sentence:Living in Paris is fun.)

At least in English,it-extraposition appears much more frequently than non-extraposition.^[23]

In English, dummyobject pronouns tend to serve anad hoc function, applying with less regularity than dummy subjects, though use of the dummy object can be traced at least as far back as the early sixteenth century.^[24]

Dummy objects are sometimes used to transformtransitive verbs to atransitivelight verb form:^[16] e.g.,do →do it, "to engage insexual intercourse";make →make it, "to achieve success";get →get it, "to comprehend".Prepositional objects are similar: e.g.,with it, "up to date";out of it, "dazed" or "not thinking". All of these phrases, of course, can also be taken literally. For instance:

He ordered acheeseburger, and even though it took them a while tomake it, he did get someFrench frieswith it.

• Impersonal verb
• Null-subject language
• Placeholder word

• Everaert, M. - van Riemsdijk, H - Goedemans, R. (eds) 2006 The Blackwell Companion to Syntax, Volumes I-V, Blackwell, London: see "existential sentences and expletive there" in Volume II.
• Graffi, G. 2001 200 Years of Syntax. A critical survey, John Benjamins, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

• Pronouns
• Transitivity and valency

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