What does it mean?
It is one of the most frequently used words in English and normally functions as the third-person singular neuter pronoun. It can stand for an object, person, event, idea, or situation already mentioned or understood, as in “The package arrived, and it was on time.” It also has important impersonal and anticipatory uses. In expressions such as “It is cold” or “It is believed that,” it introduces a statement about circumstances rather than a specific thing. The same form can prepare the subject of a sentence when a later phrase is lengthy: “It is necessary to consider every option.” Although it may seem so simple, it is historically important because it descends from Old English hit, the neuter form of the personal pronoun. Modern English largely lost grammatical gender in pronouns, but it retained this neuter form, making it a direct survival from an older stage of the language.
pronounIt is a third-person singular neuter pronoun used to refer to a person, thing, event, situation, or idea that has already been mentioned or is understood from context. It is also used as an impersonal or anticipatory pronoun in expressions such as “It is raining,” “It seems that,” and “I find it difficult.”
- A third-person singular neuter pronoun referring to a previously mentioned or contextually understood person, object, event, or idea.
- An impersonal pronoun referring to weather, time, natural processes, or circumstances rather than to a particular thing.
- An anticipatory or dummy subject, as in “It is important to act carefully” or “I found it difficult to choose.”
- A referential pronoun with an understood antecedent, often used when the exact identity of the person or thing is unimportant.
"The report was clear, but it left several questions unanswered."
"The mechanism looked complicated, but it worked perfectly."
"It is important to check the figures before publishing them."
It looks like a tiny word, but it is a linguistic fossil: it preserves the neuter pronoun of Old English, a grammatical gender that English has otherwise discarded.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does it come from?
The word descends from Old English hit, the neuter form of the Old English personal pronoun system, alongside hē and hēo for masculine and feminine reference. During the Middle English period, it became the ordinary neuter pronoun and gradually replaced earlier forms in many contexts. Its history also connects it with related Germanic pronouns, including German es and Dutch het; English hither also reflects the older root hit in its first element.
Related word forms
How it is actually used
It is neutral in tone and extremely common in formal and informal English. In its impersonal and anticipatory uses, it does not identify a specific referent; in “It is raining,” for example, it refers to the weather situation. The possessive form is its, without an apostrophe, while it’s is normally the contraction of “it is” or “it has.”
Easily confused with it
It is the standalone pronoun, while it's is the contraction of “it is” or “it has.”
It is the standalone pronoun, while its is the possessive form used in phrases such as “the book and its cover.”