English · A1 · grammar · 4 minutes
Required subjects and subject pronouns
Use I, you, he, she, it, we, or they before an ordinary finite clause.
Understand the choice
Unlike many languages, verb endings rarely identify person clearly enough to omit the subject. It and there may fill the grammatical slot without referring to a concrete object.
Core rule: English normally requires an explicit subject, including dummy it for weather/time and there for existence.
Notice it in context
It is raining, and we are waiting inside.
Está lloviendo y estamos esperando dentro.
Dummy it supports is raining; explicit we identifies who waits.
It is three o’clock, and it is cold.
The time is 3:00 and the weather has a low temperature.
Dummy it appears in time and weather expressions.
There is a book on the table.
A book exists on the table.
Existential there fills subject position before be.
What to remember
- I is always capitalized.
- Singular they is common when gender is unknown or irrelevant.
Common trap: Do not omit the subject in an ordinary statement: I work, not work.