See also: Appendix:Variations of "it"
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- (dialectal) hit
PronunciationEdit
- (stressed) enPR: ĭt, IPA(key): /ɪt/
- (dialectal) IPA(key): /ɪt̚ʔ/, /ɪʔ/
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Audio (UK) (file) -
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪt
- (unstressed) enPR: ət, IPA(key): /ət/
- Homophone: at (unstressed)
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 adjective and noun its)
- The third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to an inanimate object, to an inanimate thing with no or unknown sex or gender.
- Put it over there.
- Take each day as it comes.
- A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to a child 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.
- Used to refer to oneself when identifying oneself, often on the phone, but not limited to this situation.
- It's me. John.
- 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 very cold today.
- It’s lonely without you.
- 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)
- It is easy to see how she would think that.
- I find it odd that you would say that.
- He saw to it that everyone would vote for him.
- 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.
- (obsolete, relative) 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 wee call Happinesse, and this doe I enjoy [...].
- 1643, Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, II.2:
- See Wiktionary:English inflection for other personal pronouns.
QuotationsEdit
- For usage examples of this term, see the citations page.
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 Help:How to check translations.
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.
- (UK, uncountable) The game of tag.
- Let's play it at breaktime.
AdjectiveEdit
it (not comparable)
- (colloquial) most fashionable.
- Vibe, Vol. 15, No. 9, p. 202, September 2007:
- 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.
- Vibe, Vol. 15, No. 9, p. 202, September 2007:
Etymology 2Edit
AbbreviationEdit
it
Derived termsEdit
See alsoEdit
StatisticsEdit
AnagramsEdit
AzeriEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Turkic *it, *ït.
NounEdit
it (Cyrillic spelling ит)
VerbEdit
it (Cyrillic spelling ит)
- get lost (imperative)
Crimean TatarEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Turkic *it, *ït.
NounEdit
it
SynonymsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- V. A. Mirjejev, S. M. Usejinov (2002), Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian–Crimean Tatar Dictionary], Simferopol: Dolya, ISBN 966-7980-89-8
GreenlandicEdit
AffixEdit
it
- indicates a state of being without something.
- maani nipaappoq - It is quiet here.
- sikuippoq - There is no ice.
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
Old IrishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- (2nd sg.): at
VerbEdit
it
- second-person singular present indicative of is
- third-person plural present indicative of is
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 | sīu | it |
| Accusative | mī, mik | thī, thik | ina | sīa | |
| Dative | mī | thī | imu | iru | it |
| Genitive | mīn | thīn | is | ira | is, sīn |
| Dual | 1. | 2. | - | - | - |
| Nominative | wit | git | - | - | - |
| Accusative | unk | ink | - | - | - |
| Dative | |||||
| Genitive | unkaro | inka | - | - | - |
| Plural | 1. | 2. | 3. m | 3. f | 3. n |
| Nominative | wī | gī | sīa | sīa | sīu |
| Accusative | ūs | iu | |||
| Dative | im | ||||
| Genitive | ūsa | iuwa | iro | ||
DescendantsEdit
- Low German: et
TurkishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Turkic ıt (“dog”), from Proto-Turkic *īt, *ıyt, *ɨt, *it.
NounEdit
it (definite accusative iti, plural itler)
DeclensionEdit
declension of it
possessive forms of it
predicative forms of it
| simple present | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| ben (I am) | itim | itlerim* |
| sen (you are) | itsin | itlersin* |
| o (he/she/it is) | it / ittir | itler* / itlerdir* |
| biz (we are) | itiz | itleriz |
| siz (you are) | itsiniz | itlersiniz |
| onlar (they are) | itler | itlerdir |
| simple past | singular | plural |
| ben (I was) | ittim | itlerdim* |
| sen (you were) | ittin | itlerdin* |
| o (he/she/it was) | itti | itlerdi* |
| biz (we were) | ittik | itlerdik |
| siz (you were) | ittiniz | itlerdiniz |
| onlar (they were) | ittiler | itlerdi |
| indirect / unwitnessed past | singular | plural |
| ben (I was) | itmişim | itlermişim* |
| sen (you were) | itmişsin | itlermişsin* |
| o (he/she/it was) | itmiş | itlermiş* |
| biz (we were) | itmişiz | itlermişiz |
| siz (you were) | itmişsiniz | itlermişsiniz |
| onlar (they were) | itmişler | itlermiş |
| *Not used, but perhaps rarely - chiefly grammatical formations.
Note: Plural forms are not used with adjectives. |
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Usage notesEdit
It's generally used in countryside when meant "dog". But if the dog isn't loved, it can be said "it" for it, too.
VerbEdit
it
TurkmenEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Turkic 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