it

it

W1S1 [ıt] pron [used as subject or object]

[: Old English; Origin: hit]

1.) used to refer to a thing, animal, situation, idea etc that has already been mentioned or is already known about

▪ 'Where's your office?' 'It's on the third floor.'

▪ I love the spring - it's a wonderful time of the year.

▪ There were people crying, buildings on fire. It was terrible!

▪ Don't blame me. It wasn't my idea.

▪ This little beast is a lemur and it lives in Madagascar.

2.) used to refer to the situation that someone is in now, or what is happening now

▪ I can't stand it any longer. I'm resigning.

▪ How's it going, Bob? I haven't seen you for ages.

▪ And the worst of it is the car isn't even paid for yet.

▪ Stop it, you two. You're just being silly.

3.) used as the subject or object of a verb when the real subject or object is later in the sentence

▪ It worries me the way he keeps changing his mind.

▪ What's it like being a sailor?

▪ Apparently it's cheaper to fly than to go by train.

▪ It's a pity you couldn't come.

▪ It seems that we are not welcome here.

▪ I found it hard to concentrate.

4.) used as the subject of a sentence when you are talking about the weather, the time, a distance etc

▪ Is it still raining?

▪ It was 4 o'clock and the mail still hadn't come.

▪ It's my birthday today.

▪ It's over 200 miles from London to Manchester.

▪ It gets dark very early in the winter.

▪ It's three years since I last saw her.

5.) used with the verb 'be' to emphasize that you are talking about one particular thing, person, group etc and not any other

▪ It's Lawrence you should be talking to.

▪ It was malaria that killed him.

▪ It was in New Zealand that Elizabeth first met Mr Cronje.

6.) used to refer to a baby when you do not know what sex the baby is

▪ What will you call it if it's a boy?

7.)

a) used to say who a person is

▪ 'Who's that over there?' 'It's Robert Morley.'

b) spoken used to say who is speaking, especially on the telephone

▪ Hello, it's Frank here.

▪ It's all right, it's only me.

8.) informal used to refer to sex

▪ Have you done it with him yet?

9.) if it wasn't/weren't for sb/sth also if it hadn't been for sb/sth

used to say who or what prevents or prevented something from happening

▪ We would have arrived much earlier if it hadn't been for the snow.

10.) informal a particular ability or quality that is needed in order to do something

▪ In a job like advertising, you've either got it or you haven't!

11.) this is it

spoken used to say that something you expected to happen is actually going to happen

▪ This is it, boys, the moment we've been waiting for.

12.) that's it

spoken

a) used to say that something is completely finished or that a situation cannot be changed

▪ That's it then. There's nothing more we can do.

b) used to tell someone that they are doing something correctly

▪ Slowly...slowly. Yeah, that's it.

c) also that does it

used when you are angry about a situation and you do not want it to continue

▪ That's it. I'm leaving.

13.) think you're it informal

to think you are more important than you are

▪ Just because he got a higher mark he really thinks he's it.