English Grammar and Composition chapter 7: Introductory There and It

UNIT 07

Introductory ‘There’ & ‘It’

Read the following text and notice the use of introductory ‘There’ and ‘It’:

I am a student of class six. I go to Magura Govt. High School. It’s an old school and quite famous. There’s a big open field in front of our school. There’s a large pond at the back of the school too. There’re one thousand students and 50 teachers in our school. We are proud of our school. It’s 11 o’clock now. It’s time for our 1^st period. It’s a clear sunny day after two rainy days. I feel wonderful today.

We’ve our school uniform. It’s a white shirt with white trousers. Teachers do not allow students to enter classes without uniform. It’s good that teachers are strict on this point. A few days ago, there was an accident on our way to school. One of our students was knocked down by a rickshaw. Nobody knew the name of the boy. But the boy had school uniform. So, it was not hard for people to contact the school.

How do the underlined sentences begin?

Use

1. We use there to say that something exists.

e.g. There is a big open field in front of our school.

2. We can use there to talk about things that happen and situations.

e.g. There was an accident on our way to school.

3. We can use there for a number of people and things.

e.g. There are one thousand students and 50 teachers in our school.

4. We use it to give time, day, month, date, etc.

e.g. It’s 11 o’clock now.

5. We use it to describe someone’s situation.

e.g. So it was not hard for people to contact the school.

6. We use it to talk about weather.

e.g. It’s a clear sunny day.

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Activity 1

Angshu is visiting Kuakata. He writes a mail to one of his best friends Adrita. In the mail both introductory ‘there’ and ‘it’ have been used. Read the mail and circle the correct words.

Dear Adrita

Greetings from Kuakata.There’s/It’s really good to be here and I’m enjoying myself. There’s/It’s a good time of year to come to this place because there’s/it’s not tourists crowded now. They say, there are/It’s a lot many places to explore here. But there’s/it’s not possible on my part to see everything. You know, I’m here only for a few days. There’s/It’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon now. I’m sitting before the sea under a huge colorful umbrella. There’s/It’s breezing now. No words can describe my feeling. There are/It’s some pine trees at my back. I can hear some birds chirping from there. I can hear the roaring of the sea. There are/It**’s** some boats fishing in the sea. Everything is very calm and quiet. There’s/It’s lunch time now. So I’m planning to go to a local restaurant. The fish curry is wonderful in these restaurants as everything is so fresh. There’s/It’s a fantastic place, Adrita. Do visit here next time.

Best Regards,

Angshu

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Activity 2

Moni and Tina are discussing what to do. Complete their conversation by putting there or it in the gaps.

Moni : You see Tina, the exams are over. ___________’s boring that we are passing time doing nothing. Why don’t we do something exciting?

Tina : You are quite right. Well, __________’s a new film, Amar Bondhu Rashed, at the cinema. __________’s a child-movie on our Liberation War. We can go and see that.

Moni : _________’s a good idea. I like watching movies in the large screens of the cinema halls. But is it truly a good film?

Tina : Well, __________ a good review of it in the daily Voice. I read it. Besides, my uncle with my nephew and niece went to see the movie and they liked it very much.

Moni : Ok, then let’s go to watch this movie today. Tomorrow we will plan something else.

Activity 3

Here is a text that describes a public nuisance in an area. Read the text and decide whether the underlined words are correctly used. If yes, put a tick mark beside the gaps. If not, write the correct word in the gaps. The first one is done for you.

Mr Editor

I live in a densely populated area. There are √_ a few families living here. There are some student’s messes too. Often the young kids play badminton and cricket on the roads till midnight. Therefore, it’s __________always very noisy and there’s_____impossible to have a calm and quiet time at home. It’s__________many students in the area. It’s __________difficult for them to concentrate on their studies. There’s__________quite natural that young boys and girls will play. But is it acceptable that they will play until midnight with the cost of others’ disturbance? Moreover, there are __________parties in the messes one after another. And people there play music at high volume until 1 or 2 in the morning! There’s__________impossible to sleep with such high volume music. Besides its__________screams, and shouts! ….. And believe me

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sometimes they fight. …It’s a civilized world! They cannot do like this. My point is – there will be games and sports, there will be parties, people will listen to music but they should not create public nuisance.

Activity 4

Read the following response from Adrita to Angshu and fill in the gaps with It’s/There’s/There’re.

Dear Angshu

___________ nice to hear from you. Thanks a lot. I wish I could be there with you!

I’m staying in our village home with my grandparents now. The name of the village is Binodpur. __________not far away from our home at Magura. ___________ only 12 km from Magura town centre.

I like this place a lot. _________green trees and fields around. _________a river passing through the village. ________name is Nabaganga. Every day I go to the local market with my grandfather to buy fish and vegetables. ______different types of fish available in the market. They are so fresh! ___________a splendid market indeed.

Yesterday I felt very bad. ___________a boy selling green banana, and spinach with his blind father. He was a boy of my age. I spoke to him. He doesn’t go to school. He has to do it every day nowadays. ___________very sad to see a boy like me working so hard.

__________ raining now in Binodpur. _________a pond near our house. My cousin and I swam a lot in the pond during the rain today morning. ______a wonderful experience.

I’m going now. Grandma is cooking khichuri and hilsha fry. There’s a nice smell around. I can’t resist my temptation.

Stay fine.

Bye.

Adrita