In Russian, we can easily construct sentences consisting of one word: “It’s cold. Hot. Difficult. Late".
But how to do this on English language?
After all, English has its own word order, and a sentence must have a main character.
Therefore, according to the rules of the English language, we cannot translate these sentences “in Russian” in one word: “Cold. Hot. Difficult. Late."
To build them there is a special construction It is, which I will tell you about in this article.
From the article you will learn:
- How to construct impersonal sentences in English
What are impersonal sentences?
Impersonal offers(impersonal sentences) are sentences in which no main thing actor . Let's look at this with an example.
We use impersonal offers:
1. To describe weather and natural phenomena
For example: It's cold. Dark.
2.
To indicate time, date, day of the week, etc.
For example: 6 hours. Monday.
3. To indicate distance
For example: Far. Close.
4. To express the speaker's opinion
For example: Fun. Difficult.
Attention: Confused about English rules? Find out how to easily understand English grammar.
To construct such sentences in English, you need to use it is construction.
Let's look at it in detail.
Rules for the formation of impersonal sentences in English
Such sentences are formed very simply: using the pronoun it and the verb to be at the right time. Offer outline:
It + verb to be + other parts of the sentence
It does not indicate a person and is not translated into Russian, but in the formation of a sentence it takes on the role of the main character.
Verb to be - special kind verb. We use it when we say that someone:
- Located somewhere (He's in the park)
- Is someone (She's a nurse)
- Is somehow (Grey cat)
Depending on the tense in which we use this verb, in combination with the pronoun it, it changes its form:
In present time Present Simple- It is...= It’s….
It is hot.
Hot.
It is 5 o'clock.
5 o'clock.
In the past time Past Simple- It was...
Itwas dark.
It was dark.
It was easy.
It was easy.
Itwill be…
It will be difficult.
It will be hard.
It will be fun.
It will be fun.
Negation in impersonal sentences in English
Sometimes we need to say negative sentences: "Not difficult. Not windy. Not far." To form such sentences we need to add to the verb to be negative particle not.
The outline of such a proposal:
It + verb to be + not + other parts of the sentence
We can construct such negative sentences in the present, past, and future tenses.
In the present tense Present Simple – It is not...= It’s not...
It's not important.
Doesn't matter.
It’
snot cold.
Not cold.
In the past tense Past Simple – Itwasnot…
It wasn't funny.
It wasn't funny.
It wasn't dark.
It wasn't dark.
INfuturetime Future Simple– It will not be... = It won’t be...
It won't be hot.
It won't be hot.
It won't be easy.
It won't be easy.
Interrogative impersonal sentences in English
To ask a question with sentences like these, we need to put the verb to be first.
The outline of such a proposal would be:
Verb to be + it + other parts of the sentence?
Let's look at what this will look like for each time.
In the present tense Present Simple – Isit…?
Isit easy?
Just?
Isit beautiful?
Beautiful?
In the past tense Past Simple – Wasit…?
Was it warm?
It was warm?
Was it night?
It was night?
In the future tense Future Simple –Willitbe…?
Will it be cold?
It will be cold?
Will it be windy?
Will it be windy?
So now you know what impersonal sentences are. Let's get to practice.
Reinforcement task with the It is structure
Translate the following sentences into English. Leave your answers in the comments:
1. Friday.
2. It will be difficult.
3. Was it interesting?
4. 6 hours.
5. Not far.
6. Will it be fun?
Impersonal constructions ( Impersonal constructions) in English are a fairly common way of constructing sentences. In these sentences we do not indicate the person performing the action. It remains behind the scenes because there is no information about it, or we simply don’t care who performs the action. In Russian, such sentences are organized very simply: “Autumn. Twilight. It's getting colder." These words are impersonal sentences consisting of just one subject or one predicate.
In the English language, we build impersonal sentences on a different principle, because the rules of grammar do not allow such free use of the main members of the sentence as in the Russian language. And a sentence in which there is no subject or predicate is generally considered grammatically incorrect and is translated into Russian in the style of “You don’t understand mine.”
The thing is that the order of words in the English language is fixed, and it is this that makes the sentence meaningful. For affirmative proposals Direct word order is typical, that is, the subject comes first, then the predicate. Interrogative sentences have reverse order words, that is, we first put the predicate, and then the subject. Therefore, when we build a sentence in English, first of all we find those words that take the place of the subject and predicate, and then we put in whatever we want.
- Don't forget to check out our article "".
In cases where the subject is not found in any way, we use the impersonal pronoun it. It does not indicate the face and is not translated into Russian, but it holds the entire structure English sentences, working, of course, in tandem with the predicate. In most cases, the predicate in such sentences is the verb to be in present, past or future tense. By filling in the subject and predicate positions using it And to be, we followed the rule direct order words according to the principle: put a formal subject it and predicate - verb to be or another verb. Essentially, we have created a grammatically correct sentence.
Such impersonal sentences in English are used in the following cases:
- To describe natural phenomena.
It is dark. - It's dark.
- To describe the state of the weather.
It is windy. - It's windy.
At the same time, impersonal constructions are often built with verbs to rain, to snow, to hail, to drizzle.
It was raining for the whole day yesterday. – It rained all day yesterday.
It often snows in winter. - It's snowing frequently in the winter.
- To answer the question: “What time is it?”
It is 8.20 p.m. – It’s 8:20 am now.
- To indicate time and distance.
It is 8 a.m. – It’s 8 o’clock now.
It is far away from here. - Far away from here.
When we reach the city, it will be 2 a.m.. - When we reach the city, it will already be it will be 2 am.
- To translate adverbs: perhaps, difficult, late, easy, early, far.
It is late for the child to go for a walk. - To kid late to go for a walk.
It is easy for me to study English. - To me easily learn English language.
It is very far for us to walk there. - There very far go.
- To indicate the amount of time it takes to complete an action. Here we use the construction It takes... to... (corresponds to Russian: “I need... time to do something”; “it takes me... time to...").
It takes me about an hour to do my morning exercise. – It takes me about an hour to exercise in the morning.
It will take her 20 min. to do her make-up. – She will need 20 minutes to apply makeup.
- With verbs in passive voice: believe, understand, say, know, report, expect, think, consider.
It is believed that English is easy to study. – It is believed that English is easy to learn.
It is expected that he will arrive soon. - He is expected to arrive soon.
It is reported that the election was a success. – They report that the elections were successful.
The interrogative form of an impersonal sentence in English is formed by changing the places of the main members of the sentence. Verb to be we put it in first place, and the pronoun it- on the second.
Is it easy for you to speak English? – Is it easy for you to speak English?
The negative form of impersonal sentences is formed using a negative particle not, which is added to the verb form to be.
It is not difficult to play tennis. – Tennis is not difficult to play.
Be sure to use these wonderful designs! They will help you dive into the deep structure of the English language and understand the mentality of the British.
Test
Impersonal sentences in English
In Russian, we can easily construct sentences consisting of one word: “It’s cold. Hot. Difficult. Late".
But how to do this in English?
After all, English has its own word order, and a sentence must have a main character.
Therefore, according to the rules of the English language, we cannot translate these sentences “in Russian” in one word: “Cold. Hot. Difficult. Late."
To build them there is a special construction It is, which I will tell you about in this article.
From the article you will learn:
- How to construct impersonal sentences in English
What are impersonal sentences?
Impersonal sentences are those sentences in which no main character . Let's look at this with an example.
We use impersonal offers:
1. To describe weather and natural phenomena
For example: It's cold. Dark.
2.
To indicate time, date, day of the week, etc.
For example: 6 hours. Monday.
3. To indicate distance
For example: Far. Close.
4. To express the speaker's opinion
For example: Fun. Difficult.
Attention: Confused about English rules? Find out how to easily understand English grammar.
To construct such sentences in English, you need to use it is construction.
Let's look at it in detail.
Rules for the formation of impersonal sentences in English
Such sentences are formed very simply: using the pronoun it and the verb to be at the right time. Offer outline:
It + verb to be + other parts of the sentence
It does not indicate a person and is not translated into Russian, but in the formation of a sentence it takes on the role of the main character.
The verb to be is a special type of verb. We use it when we say that someone:
- Located somewhere (He's in the park)
- Is someone (She's a nurse)
- Is somehow (Grey cat)
Depending on the tense in which we use this verb, in combination with the pronoun it, it changes its form:
In the present tense Present Simple - It is…= It’s….
It is hot.
Hot.
It is 5 o'clock.
5 o'clock.
In the past tense Past Simple - It was…
Itwas dark.
It was dark.
It was easy.
It was easy.
In the future tense Future Simple -Itwill be…
It will be difficult.
It will be hard.
It will be fun.
It will be fun.
Negation in impersonal sentences in English
Sometimes we need to say negative sentences: “It’s not difficult. Not windy. Not far." To form such sentences, we need to add a negative particle not to the verb to be.
The outline of such a proposal:
It + verb to be + not + other parts of the sentence
We can construct such negative sentences in the present, past, and future tenses.
In the present tense Present Simple - It is not…= It’s not...
It's not important.
Doesn't matter.
It’
snot cold.
Not cold.
In the past tense Past Simple - Itwasnot…
It wasn't funny.
It wasn't funny.
It wasn't dark.
It wasn't dark.
INfuturetimeFuture Simple - It will not be… = It won’t be…
Will it be windy?
Will it be windy?
So now you know what impersonal sentences are. Let's get to practice.
Reinforcement task with the It is structure
Translate the following sentences into English. Leave your answers in the comments:
1. Friday.
2. It will be difficult.
3. Was it interesting?
4. 6 hours.
5. Not far.
6. Will it be fun?
Personal sentences are sentences in which the subject expresses a person, thing or concept.
The child began to cry.
The child began to cry.
Sometimes the subject is not indicated, but is implied (usually in imperative sentences).
And don’t cross the street against the lights.
And don’t cross the street when the light is on (meaning “you”).
Note. For ways of expressing subjects, see Subject in English
Vaguely personal proposals
Indefinite personal sentences are sentences in which the subject is expressed by an indefinite person.
In English, as the subject of an indefinite-personal sentence (in the meaning unknown person) pronouns are used one, you or they(the latter - excluding the speaker).
In Russian, indefinite sentences do not have a subject. When translating English indefinite-personal sentences into Russian, pronouns one, you And they are not translated, and English indefinite-personal sentences in general are translated into Russian by indefinite-personal or impersonal sentences.
One must be careful when driving a car.
Need to be careful when you drive.
You never know what he may bring next time. (- One never knows…)
You never know(hard to say) what he might bring next time.
You may walk miles without seeing one.
Can(You can) walk for many miles and not meet anyone.
They say that a new theater will soon be built here.
They say that a new theater will be built here soon.
Impersonal offers
In Russian, an impersonal sentence is a sentence that does not have a subject: Winter. Cold. Dark. It's time to start working.
In English, impersonal sentences have a subject, but it does not express the person or thing that performs the action. The function of this formal subject expresses a pronoun it, which is usually not translated into Russian.
Impersonal sentences are used:
1. When designating:
a) time:
It is 6 o'clock. 6 hours.
It is late. Late.
b) distances:
It is three miles from here. (It's) three miles from here.
c) natural phenomena, weather conditions, emotional state person:
It's winter. Winter.
It is cold. Cold.
It is snowing (raining). Snowing(rain).
2. In the presence of impersonal phrases, it seems - Seems, it appears - obviously, apparently, it happens - turns out.
It happened that nobody had taken the key to the flat.
It turned out that no one took the key to the apartment.
It seems that I have left my textbook at home.
It seems (that) I left the textbook at home.
We all remember the immortal lines of the poem: “Night. Street. Flashlight. Pharmacy." I wonder if anyone has thought about translating these words? Maybe, "Night. Street. Streetlight. Drugstore?"
In fact, such a translation will not be entirely correct. We remember Golden Rule In English there are no sentences without a verb. And in our translation, it turns out, it happens. What to do when there is no verb? Many people don’t bother for long and translate Russian thought word by word into English without thinking about grammar. It is then that we deal with the so-called Russian-English language. It is precisely such “actions” that reveal both the origin of the user and his, unfortunately, low level of language knowledge.
The situation with the formal absence of a verb is resolved as follows:
If there is no doer (subject) and action (predicate), then we are dealing with an impersonal sentence. An impersonal sentence is a sentence that conveys a state, not an action, and does not have a person to whom this state is characteristic.
In Russian, we often encounter such sentences: “It’s cold outside,” “It’s five o’clock,” “Today is Thursday.” Please note that all these sentences convey a certain state - weather and temporary. In addition, we will not be able to answer the question “Who does this?” and identify the subject. Therefore we are dealing with impersonal sentences.
There is another little trick on how to find the “missing” verb and thereby recognize an impersonal sentence. Put it in the past tense: “Cold” - “It was cold.” Here is our verb that surfaced! This means that it exists and we need to use the impersonal sentence structure for translation.
In English, these sentences are constructed according to the scheme It + be at the right time . In accordance with this scheme, our examples will be translated as follows:
- It is cold outside.
- It is five o'clock now.
- It is Thursday today.
In general, there are generalized semantic categories of sentences, which are most often impersonal.
Table. Impersonal sentences in English
| Category | Example |
|---|---|
|
It's 4 p.m. |
|
|
It's windy. |
|
|
Distance |
It’s 5 kilometers to my country house. |
However, the scheme It + be in the right tense works only if it is followed by nominal parts of speech: nouns, adjectives, adverbs, numerals. Please note that in all our examples this rule is followed. But what about, for example, such options as “Burns”, “Hurts”, etc.?
IN recent examples we have reverse situation: there is a verb, but no action producer. Then you just need to put the impersonal pronoun it before this verb.
- It stings
- It hurts
The fact is that it is the pronoun it (it) and gives impersonality to sentences, while maintaining the normal word order - subject, predicate and other members of the sentence.