it
See also: Appendix:Variations of "it"
Contents
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
PronunciationEdit
- (stressed)
- (Received Pronunciation, General American, General Australian) IPA(key): /ɪt/ enPR: ĭt
- (General New Zealand) IPA(key): /ɘt/
Audio (UK) (file) Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪt
- (unstressed)
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɪt/, [ɪ̈t], [ɪt]
- Rhymes: -ɪt
- (General American) IPA(key): /ət/, [ɪ̈t], enPR: ət
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ət/
- (General New Zealand) IPA(key): /ɘt/
- Homophone: at (unstressed) (General American, General Australian, General New Zealand)
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English it, hit ( > English dialectal hit (“it”)), from Old English hit (“it”), from Proto-Germanic *hit (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this, here”). Cognate with West Frisian it (“it”), Low German it (“it”), Dutch het (“it”), German es (“it”). More at he.
Alternative formsEdit
- itt (obsolete)
PronounEdit
it (subjective and objective it, reflexive and intensive itself, possessive determiner and noun its)
- The third-person singular personal pronoun that is normally used to refer to an inanimate object or abstract entity, also often used to refer to animals.
- Put it over there.
- Take each day as it comes.
- I heard the sound of the school bus - it was early today.
- 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
- It is not a pen. It is a book.
Audio (US) (file)
- It is not a pen. It is a book.
- 1993, Bruce Coville, Aliens Ate My Homework, pages 72–73:
- "Oh, don't be silly. I am neither male nor female. I'm a farfel." […] "It. Refer to me as an it."
"That seems pretty rude," I said nervously.
"Not as rude as calling me a he or a she," it said.
- "Oh, don't be silly. I am neither male nor female. I'm a farfel." […] "It. Refer to me as an it."
- A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to a child, especially of unknown gender.
- She took the baby and held it in her arms.
- 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Chapter IV:
- A child cannot quarrel with its elders, as I had done; cannot give its furious feelings uncontrolled play, as I had given mine, without experiencing afterwards the pang of remorse and the chill of reaction.
- 1859, Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White:
- I could only encourage Mrs. Clements to speak next of Anne's early days […] "There was nobody else, sir, to take the little helpless creature in hand," replied Mrs. Clements. "The wicked mother seemed to hate it—as if the poor baby was in fault!—from the day it was born. My heart was heavy for the child, and I made the offer to bring it up as tenderly as if it was my own."
"Did Anne remain entirely under your care from that time?"
"Not quite entirely, sir. Mrs. Catherick had her whims and fancies about it at times, and used now and then to lay claim to the child, as if she wanted to spite me for bringing it up.
- I could only encourage Mrs. Clements to speak next of Anne's early days […] "There was nobody else, sir, to take the little helpless creature in hand," replied Mrs. Clements. "The wicked mother seemed to hate it—as if the poor baby was in fault!—from the day it was born. My heart was heavy for the child, and I made the offer to bring it up as tenderly as if it was my own."
- 2005, Marcus Zusak, The Book Thief, part 10:
- The sky was dripping. Like a tap that a child has tried its hardest to turn off but hasn't quite managed.
- Used to refer to someone being identified, often on the phone, but not limited to this situation.
- It's me. John.
- Is it her?
- The impersonal pronoun, used without referent as the subject of an impersonal verb or statement. (known as the dummy pronoun or weather it)
- It is nearly 10 o’clock.
- It’s 10:45 [read ten-forty-five].
- It’s very cold today.
- It’s lonely without you.
- The impersonal pronoun, used without referent in various short idioms.
- The impersonal pronoun, used as a placeholder for a delayed subject, or less commonly, object; known as the dummy pronoun or, more formally in linguistics, a syntactic expletive. The delayed subject is commonly a to-infinitive, a gerund, or a noun clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction.
- It is easy to see how she would think that. (with the infinitive clause headed by to see)
- I find it odd that you would say that. (with the noun clause introduced by that)
- It is hard seeing you so sick. (with the gerund seeing)
- He saw to it that everyone would vote for him. (with the noun clause introduced by that)
- It is not clear if the report was true. (with the noun clause introduced by if)
- All or the end; something after which there is no more.
- Are there more students in this class, or is this it?
- That's it—I'm not going to any more candy stores with you.
- (chiefly derogatory, offensive) A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to an animate referent who is transgender or is neither female nor male.
- (obsolete) Followed by an omitted and understood relative pronoun: That which; what.
- 1643, Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, II.2:
- In briefe, I am content, and what should providence add more? Surely this is it [= it which] wee call Happinesse, and this doe I enjoy [...].
- 1643, Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, II.2:
Usage notesEdit
- See Wiktionary:English inflection, Appendix:English pronouns and Appendix:English third-person singular pronouns for other personal pronouns.
- For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:it.
Derived termsEdit
See alsoEdit
TranslationsEdit
subject — inanimate thing
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object
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subject of impersonal statement
impersonal pronoun, used without referent
impersonal pronoun, used as a placeholder
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
DeterminerEdit
it
- (obsolete) its
- 1611, Authorized King James Version of the Bible, first edition, Leviticus 25:5:
- That which groweth of it owne accord of thy haruest, thou ſhalt not reape, neither gather the grapes of thy Uine vndreſſed: for it is a yeere of reſt vnto the land. (replaced by "its" in the 1769 Oxford Standard Text)
- 1611, Authorized King James Version of the Bible, first edition, Leviticus 25:5:
NounEdit
it (plural its)
- One who is neither a he nor a she; a creature; a dehumanized being.
- 1995, Neil Weiner, Sharon E. Robinson Kurpius, Shattered innocence (page 8)
- Too often, children become an "it" in their homes and their humanness is devalued.
- 1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, Bulldog Drummond Chapter 1
- His master glanced up quickly, and removed the letter from his hands. "I'm surprised at you, James," he remarked severely. "A secretary should control itself. Don't forget that the perfect secretary is an it: an automatic machine—a thing incapable of feeling.…"
- 1995, Neil Weiner, Sharon E. Robinson Kurpius, Shattered innocence (page 8)
- The person who chases and tries to catch the other players in the playground game of tag.
- In the next game, Adam and Tom will be it…
- 2000, Katherine T. Thomas, Amelia M. Lee, Jerry R. Thomas, Physical education for children (page 464)
- When there are only two children left who haven't been tagged, I will stop the game, and we will start over with those children starting as the Its.
- (Britain, uncountable) The game of tag.
- Let's play it at breaktime.
- (uncountable) Sex appeal, especially that which goes beyond beauty.
- 1904, Rudyard Kipling, "Mrs Bathurst"
- 'Tisn't beauty, so to speak, nor good talk necessarily. It's just It. Some women'll stay in a man's memory if they once walked down a street
- 1927, Dorothy Parker:
- And she had It. It, hell; she had Those.
- 1904, Rudyard Kipling, "Mrs Bathurst"
- (euphemistic) Sexual activity.
- caught them doing it
AdjectiveEdit
it (not comparable)
- (colloquial) Most fashionable.
- 2007 September, Vibe, volume 15, number 9, page 202:
- Going away for the weekend and feel the need to profile en route? This is the "it" bag.
- David Germain, Hilarious ‘Kick-Ass’ delivers bloody fun, Associated Press, 2010:
- With Hit Girl, Moretz is this year's It Girl, alternately sweet, savage and scary.
- 2007 September, Vibe, volume 15, number 9, page 202:
Etymology 2Edit
Abbreviation.
Proper nounEdit
it
Derived termsEdit
See alsoEdit
AnagramsEdit
AzerbaijaniEdit
| Other scripts | |
|---|---|
| Cyrillic | ит |
| Roman | it |
| Perso-Arabic | ایت |
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Turkic *it, *ït (“canine”).
NounEdit
it (definite accusative iti, plural itlər)
DeclensionEdit
Declension of it
Possessive forms of it
CharruaEdit
ChuukeseEdit
Crimean TatarEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Turkic *it, *ït.
NounEdit
it
SynonymsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary][1], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN
IrishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
PronunciationEdit
ContractionEdit
it (triggers lenition)
Related termsEdit
Irish preposition contractions
| Basic form | Contracted with | Copular forms | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| an (“the sg”) | na (“the pl”) | mo (“my”) | do (“your”) | a (“his, her, their; which (present)”) | ár (“our”) | ar (“which (past)”) | (before consonant) | (present/future before vowel) | (past/conditional before vowel) | |
| de (“from”) | den | de na desna* |
de mo dem* |
de do ded*, det* |
dá | dár | dar | darb | darbh | |
| do (“to, for”) | don | do na dosna* |
do mo dom* |
do do dod*, dot* |
dá | dár | dar | darb | darbh | |
| faoi (“under, about”) | faoin | faoi na | faoi mo | faoi do | faoina | faoinár | faoinar | faoinarb | faoinarbh | |
| i (“in”) | sa, san | sna | i mo im* |
i do id*, it* |
ina | inár | inar | inarb | inarbh | |
| le (“with”) | leis an | leis na | le mo lem* |
le do led*, let* |
lena | lenár | lenar | lenarb | lenarbh | |
| ó (“from, since”) | ón | ó na ósna* |
ó mo óm* |
ó do ód*, ót* |
óna | ónár | ónar | ónarb | ónarbh | |
| trí (“through”) | tríd an | trí na | trí mo | trí do | trína | trínár | trínar | trínarb | trínarbh | |
| *Dialectal. | ||||||||||
LatinEdit
LatvianEdit
ParticleEdit
it
- used to assign accentuation to expression
- it sevišķi ― especially
- it nekas ― nothing at all
- it nekur ― nowhere at all
- it nemaz ― not at all
- it kā ― as if
Middle DutchEdit
Middle EnglishEdit
PronounEdit
it
- Alternative form of hit
DeterminerEdit
it
- Alternative form of hit
ReferencesEdit
- “hit, (pron.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 27 May 2018.
Middle Low GermanEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Saxon it, from Proto-Germanic *hit.
PronunciationEdit
PronounEdit
it
DeclensionEdit
Middle Low German personal pronouns
| nominative | accusative | dative | genitive | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person singular | ik (ek) | mî (mê, mik, mek) | mîn (mîner) | ||
| 2nd person singular | dû | dî (dê, dik, dek) | dîn (dîner) | ||
| 3rd person singular | |||||
| m | hê (hî, hie) | ēne, en (ȫne, ȫn) | ēme, em (ȫme, en) | sîn (sîner) | |
| n | it (et) | ||||
| f | sê (sî, sie, sü̂) | ēre, ēr (ērer, ȫrer) | |||
| 1st person plural | wî (wê, wie) | uns (ûs, ös, ü̂sik) | unser (ûser) | ||
| 2nd person plural | gî (jê, î) | jû (jûwe, û, jük, gik) | jûwer (ûwer) | ||
| 3rd person plural | sê (sî, sie) | em, öm, jüm (en; ehnen, ohnen, öhnen) | ēre, ēr (ērer, ȫrer) | ||
|
For an explanation of the forms in brackets see here. | |||||
DescendantsEdit
Northern SamiEdit
Old IrishEdit
Old SaxonEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Germanic *it.
PronounEdit
it n
DeclensionEdit
Old Saxon personal pronouns
| Personal pronouns | |||||
| Singular | 1. | 2. | 3. m | 3. f | 3. n |
| Nominative | ik | thū | hē | siu | it |
| Accusative | mī, me, mik | thī, thik | ina | sia | |
| Dative | mī | thī | imu | iru | it |
| Genitive | mīn | thīn | is | ira | is |
| Dual | 1. | 2. | - | - | - |
| Nominative | wit | git | - | - | - |
| Accusative | unk | ink | - | - | - |
| Dative | |||||
| Genitive | unkero | - | - | - | |
| Plural | 1. | 2. | 3. m | 3. f | 3. n |
| Nominative | wī, we | gī, ge | sia | sia | siu |
| Accusative | ūs, unsik | eu, iu, iuu | |||
| Dative | ūs | im | |||
| Genitive | ūser | euwar, iuwer, iuwar, iuwero, iuwera | iro | ||
DescendantsEdit
Sathmar SwabianEdit
TurkishEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Ottoman Turkish ايت (it), from Old Turkic ıt (ıt, “dog”), from Proto-Turkic *īt, *ıyt, *ɨt, *it.
NounEdit
it (definite accusative iti, plural itler)
- (often derogatory) dog
- (derogatory) scoundrel, detestable person
Usage notesEdit
Not historically derogatory, and still used as the primary term for "dog" in the countryside. Usually, if a dog is a stray or feral, it can be referred to as "it" as well. The more usual word is köpek, which is also pejorative and derogatory when used for a person.
DeclensionEdit
| Inflection | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | it | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Definite accusative | iti | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Singular | Plural | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nominative | it | itler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Definite accusative | iti | itleri | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dative | ite | itlere | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locative | itte | itlerde | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ablative | itten | itlerden | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genitive | itin | itlerin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Etymology 2Edit
VerbEdit
it
- second-person singular imperative of itmek (“to push”)
TurkmenEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Turkic ıt (ıt, “dog”), from Proto-Turkic *īt, *ıyt, *ɨt, *it.
NounEdit
it (definite accusative idi, plural itler)
DeclensionEdit
declension of it
UzbekEdit
VolapükEdit
DeterminerEdit
it
- (with a personal pronoun) self; myself; yourself; himself; herself; itself; ourselves; themselves; emphasises the identity or singularity of the modified noun phrase
WelshEdit
West FrisianEdit
ArticleEdit
it n
- the (the definite article that is placed before neuter nouns. Non-neuter (common gender) nouns take the article de).
PronounEdit
it (personal pronoun)
- it: the third-person singular, referring to something neutral, genderless.
ZhuangEdit
| < 0 | 1 | 2 > |
|---|---|---|
| Cardinal : it | ||
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Middle Chinese 一 (MC ʔiɪt̚, “one”). Cognate with Lao ເອັດ (’et) and Thai เอ็ด (èt).
PronunciationEdit
- (Standard Zhuang) IPA(key): /it˥/
- Tone numbers: it7
- Hyphenation: it
NumeralEdit
it (old orthography it)
Usage notesEdit
Used with ngeih rather than song.