Definition:
A word that has a grammatical function but no specific lexical meaning.
See also:
- Notes on Do: Ten Things You Can Do With the Verb Do
- Expletive (definition #1)
- Existential Sentence
- Light Verb
- Substitution
Examples and Observations:
- "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair . . .."
(Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, 1859) - "[T]he verb do, used as an auxiliary, is often called the dummy operator because it has no meaning of its own but exists simply to fill the 'slot' of operator when an operator is needed to form (for example) negative or interrogative sentences. In a similar way, it can be called a dummy subject when it fills the subject slot in sentences like: It's a pity that they wasted so much time."
(Geoffrey N. Leech, A Glossary of English Grammar. Edinburgh Univ. Press, 2006) - "There are also pronouns that don't mean anything at all. Dummy pronouns, they're called, and we come across them all the time (you read one in the previous sentence). They're those pronouns that exist only because the English language demands that each sentence contain a subject: the it in 'It's raining' or the there in 'There is a shed in my back yard.' (Note: the there only works as an example of a dummy pronoun if I am not pointing to a shed, and am nowhere near my back yard.)"
(Jessica Love, "They Get to Me." The American Scholar, Spring 2010) - "In the case of reference, the meaning of a dummy word can be determined by what is imparted before or after the occurrence of the dummy word. In general, the dummy word is a pronoun.
I see John is here. He hasn't changed a bit.
(J. Renkema, Discourse Studies. John Benjamins, 2004)
She certainly has changed. No, behind John. I mean Karin." - "By using there as a dummy subject, the writer or speaker can delay introducing the real subject of the sentence. There is called a dummy subject . . . because it has no meaning in itself--its function is to put the real subject in a more prominent position."
(Sara Thorne, Mastering Advanced English Language. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)
Also Known As: dummy operator, dummy subject
