Monday, June 17, 2013
Friday, May 31, 2013
Well, the next usage for 'IT' that a lot of
students forget to use is when we don't have a subject/author in the
sentence in Portuguese.
Example: IT's raining.
Who or what is raining? Nobody! It's a natural phenomenon. It just happens!
Students tend to say..."Oh, is raining". DON'T FORGET THAT BASICALLY, ALL SENTENCES HAVE SUBJECTS IN ENGLISH.
So, when you don't have to say it in Portuguese, don't forget to add 'IT' in English.
Examples:
It's late. (Está tarde.)
It's 3 p.m. (São 3 horas da tarde)
It's dangerous to walk downtown late at night. (É perigoso andar no Centro tarde da noite.)
It's windy today. (Está ventoso hoje)
It's the first time it happened to me....(yeah right!) (É a primeira vez que isso me acontece)
There's an exception:
When you give commands, you don't use subjects, because you are commanding the person you're talking to.
Example:
SHUT UP!!
DON'T DO THAT!!
GIVE ME A BREAK!
Example: IT's raining.
Who or what is raining? Nobody! It's a natural phenomenon. It just happens!
Students tend to say..."Oh, is raining". DON'T FORGET THAT BASICALLY, ALL SENTENCES HAVE SUBJECTS IN ENGLISH.
So, when you don't have to say it in Portuguese, don't forget to add 'IT' in English.
Examples:
It's late. (Está tarde.)
It's 3 p.m. (São 3 horas da tarde)
It's dangerous to walk downtown late at night. (É perigoso andar no Centro tarde da noite.)
It's windy today. (Está ventoso hoje)
It's the first time it happened to me....(yeah right!) (É a primeira vez que isso me acontece)
There's an exception:
When you give commands, you don't use subjects, because you are commanding the person you're talking to.
Example:
SHUT UP!!
DON'T DO THAT!!
GIVE ME A BREAK!
Hey, guys! what's up?
Just me and you right now, real talk!
Have you ever wondered about how the word 'IT' has been forgotten by most of us?
Let's see the facts here, by heart:
I guess the most useful and common is IT as SUBJECT, or the author of an action ('it' refers to an animal, abstract and contrete things, pets excluded). But here is the deal: YOU NEED TO HAVE PREVIOUSLY STATED WHAT 'IT' REPRESENTS.
Ex: Man, look at the Ferrari!! IT(the Ferrari)'s beautiful!!
Who wants to know the other usages???
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