1. It fills the subject position without naming a thing
Some languages can express “dark” or “late” without a separate subject. For a neutral, complete English statement, build a sentence with a subject and verb: It is dark. It is late. Here it does not refer to a particular thing; it is called a dummy subject.
Do not look for a literal object referred to by this it. Translate the whole meaning. The room is small. It is warm. is different: in the second sentence, it can refer back to the room. Look at the context, not just the word itself.
It + is + description of conditions / time / distance.
It is dark outside.
It is dark outside.
It does not name a dark object; the sentence describes the light conditions outside.
It is early.
It is early.
English needs it as the grammatical subject here, even if it has no separate equivalent in a translation.
My tea is here. It is cold.
My tea is here. It is cold.
Here, it refers to the tea. Cold by itself does not establish that the sentence is about weather.
2. Weather: a description, a regular event or what is happening now
After it is, you can use an adjective: warm, cold, sunny or windy. An adjective is not a verb, so do not lose is.
Rain can be a verb. It rains a lot here describes the usual weather: rain is frequent here. It is raining now says that rain is falling at this moment. Do not mix the forms as It is rains. This brief distinction helps you keep the subject and construction correct; it does not replace a separate lesson on tenses.
When describing past conditions with an adjective, change is to was: It was windy yesterday. It remains the same.
It is + adjective. / It rains. / It is raining. / It was + adjective.
- adjective —
- A word describing what someone or something is like: happy, tired, interesting.
It's sunny outside.
It's sunny outside.
Sunny describes the weather; it's means it is here.
It rains a lot in autumn.
It rains a lot in autumn.
Rains is a verb describing a general pattern; there is no extra is before it.
It is raining now.
It is raining now.
Is raining shows an event observable now.
It was warm yesterday.
It was warm yesterday.
Was places the description of conditions yesterday, not today.
3. Is it cold outside, or do you feel cold?
It is cold describes general conditions. I am cold describes how the speaker feels. Both sentences are correct but not interchangeable: someone can feel cold even in a warm room.
Likewise, It is hot describes heat in the surroundings, while I am hot describes the speaker feeling hot. If you ask to close a window because you feel uncomfortable, refer to yourself; if you report the weather before going out, describe the conditions.
It's cold outside, but I'm warm.
It's cold outside, but I'm warm.
The first statement is about the weather; the second is about a person's feeling.
I'm cold. Can we close the window?
I'm cold. Can we close the window?
The speaker reports their own feeling rather than defining the weather for everyone.
4. The time, day and date
For the current time, say It is six or It's six o'clock. Do not add at: this answers what time it is now, not when a meeting starts. It's six thirty means 6:30; add o'clock only for an exact hour.
The same construction names a day or date: It's Tuesday. It's 4 May. Familiar British and American orders are possible for dates: the fourth of May or May fourth. You do not need to learn every way of reading dates here.
Ask What time is it? for the clock time, What day is it? for the day of the week, and What's the date today? for the date. In the last question, the subject is the date; this is also a correct way to ask. Today is Tuesday is grammatical too; an exercise may specifically require it as its learning target.
It's eight thirty.
It's eight thirty.
Give the clock time without at and without o'clock after the minutes.
It is Friday today.
It is Friday today.
It does not name a thing here; Friday answers the question about the day.
It's the fourth of May.
It's the fourth of May.
This gives a date. It's May fourth expresses the same date in another familiar order.
5. The distance between two places
To state a distance, it is useful to begin with It is and add a number and unit: It's two kilometres from the hotel to the station. From marks the start and to the end of the route. It stays singular even when there are several kilometres.
Useful questions are Is it far to the station? and How far is it from here to the station? For a negative, use It isn't far. To describe a large distance, It's a long way to the station is natural.
The station is two kilometres away is also correct, but station is the subject. After a place has been mentioned, it can refer to that place: The bank? It isn't far from here. To practise a clear dummy-subject construction, we use the distance from A to B. Travel time does not give an exact number of kilometres: ten minutes on foot and ten minutes by bus are not the same distance.
It is + distance + from A + to B. / How far is it from A to B?
It's one kilometre from the café to the park.
It's one kilometre from the café to the park.
Both endpoints are named, making it clear which distance is measured.
Is it far from here to the office?
Is it far from here to the office?
Is comes before it because this is a question, not a statement.
It isn't far from the shop to the bus stop.
It isn't far from the shop to the bus stop.
Isn't negates a large distance; the speaker gives no exact number of metres.
6. Negatives, questions and short answers
With is, form the negative using not: It is not cold. You can contract it to It isn't cold or It's not cold. For a question, swap is and it: Is it cold? Do not add do.
Short answers to Is it raining? are Yes, it is and No, it isn't. In a standard positive short answer, is cannot be contracted: not Yes, it's. If a description follows, a contraction is possible: Yes, it's raining.
With the verb rains, the structure differs: Does it rain here? — It doesn't rain much here. After does or doesn't, use rain without -s. This supporting pattern is needed only for discussing usual weather.
It is not … → Is it …? → Yes, it is. / No, it isn't.
It isn't Monday. It's Tuesday.
It isn't Monday. It's Tuesday.
The first sentence corrects a mistake; the second gives the right day.
Is it warm? — Yes, it is.
Is it warm? — Yes, it is.
In the short answer, is comes at the end and does not contract with it.
Does it rain here in summer? — No, it doesn't.
Does it rain here in summer? — No, it doesn't.
The question with rain needs does; the short answer repeats that auxiliary.
7. The complete pattern does not ban natural conversation
It's and It is are ordinary variants of the same construction in these statements. A contraction does not mean the subject has disappeared. Write the apostrophe: It's cold, not Its cold.
In conversation, What time is it? can be answered with Six o'clock. Messages to friends may contain short fragments such as Cold today! These depend on context. If the task asks for a complete sentence, choose It's six o'clock or It's cold today.
Do not add it to every English utterance. Take an umbrella is a normal imperative without an expressed subject. The weather is cold and Today is Monday also have their own subjects. The aim is to use it where this construction fits, not to rewrite all other correct sentences.
It's raining. Take an umbrella.
It's raining. Take an umbrella.
The weather statement has it; the instruction Take an umbrella does not need an added it.
What time is it? — Six o'clock.
What time is it? — Six o'clock.
The short conversational answer is natural. To practise the complete pattern, say It's six o'clock.
Common mistakes
Incorrect:Is windy outside.
Correct:It is windy outside.
A neutral, complete statement about outdoor conditions needs the missing subject it. This does not judge every possible conversational fragment.
Incorrect:It cold in here.
Correct:It is cold in here.
Cold is an adjective, so it needs the verb form is after the subject it. Do not omit this linking verb just because another language can express the same idea without it.
Incorrect:It is rains every week.
Correct:It rains every week.
The verb rains describes regular rain. Do not put is before the finite form rains.
Incorrect:It are three kilometres from the hotel to the park.
Correct:It is three kilometres from the hotel to the park.
The verb agrees with it, not with the number of kilometres, so use is.
Incorrect:What time it is?
Correct:What time is it?
This is a direct question about the time: is precedes it. It is order is possible in other constructions, but not in this neutral direct question.
Incorrect:It's at seven o'clock.
Correct:It's seven o'clock.
As an answer to “What time is it now?”, at is unnecessary. The original sentence is grammatical in another context: it could refer to a meeting scheduled for seven.
Incorrect:It is cold.
Correct:I am cold.
To say specifically that the speaker feels cold, the first version changes the meaning by describing surrounding conditions. It is not a grammar error in itself.
Incorrect:Yes, it's.
Correct:Yes, it is.
In a standard positive short answer to Is it sunny?, final is cannot be contracted. Yes, it's sunny is a correct longer answer.
Incorrect:Its sunny today.
Correct:It's sunny today.
Here, it is is being contracted, so an apostrophe is needed. Its without an apostrophe is not a verb form.
Sources
- British Council: 'it' and 'there' as dummy subjects — weather, time, dates and the imperative exception
- British Council: Personal pronouns — subjects and imperatives without an expressed subject
- Cambridge Dictionary: it — referential meaning and time, dates, weather and distances
- British Council: Present simple: to be — questions, negatives, contractions and short answers
- Cambridge English Grammar Today: Contractions — positive contractions at the end of a sentence
- Cambridge English Grammar Today: Long — distance, a long way and far in questions and negatives
- Cambridge English Grammar Today: Time — telling the time and the limits of o'clock