Chapter XCV: Anticipative Subject

=368.= We have learned that the pronoun _it_ may be used as an anticipative subject to throw the real subject after the predicate. This real subject may be a noun clause or an infinitive phrase.

It will never be known whether the lady came out of that door
or the tiger.

It is a mistake to suppose that the fox cannot be tamed.

=369.= We must not conclude that the word _it_ at the beginning of a sentence is always an anticipative subject. Sometimes it is the real subject, that is, it is a neuter personal pronoun having for its antecedent some term perfectly understood by both speaker and listener; as, “Have you read ‘The Call of the Wild’? _It_ is the story of a dog that reverted.”

=370.= Sometimes _it_ is used for subject with no special word for antecedent; as when we say, “It was blowing great guns.” (See § 252.)

=371.= In the familiar expression, “It is time to get up,” the antecedent of _it_ is the word _now_ or the term _the present moment_.

=372.= _It_ is not the only word used as anticipative subject. Another word is _there_; as in the sentence, “There is snow on the top of Pike’s Peak.” If we ask the question, _What is on the top of Pike’s Peak?_ the sensible answer is not _there_, but _snow_, hence _snow_ is the subject. The word _there_ does not denote place, hence it is not an adverb. It is used merely to fill a gap in a declarative sentence in which the subject has been placed after the verb, for if the gap were not filled and the sentence began with a verb, it would seem to be interrogative. When so used the word _there_ is called an =expletive=, which means a word used to fill up a gap.

=373.= Of course _there_ at the beginning of a sentence is not always an expletive. Sometimes it is an adverb denoting place; as, “There will I build me a nest.”

NOTE.—When _there_ is an adverb we pronounce it distinctly, but
when it is an expletive used as anticipative subject, we slur
it.

=Summary.=—The word _it_ is often used as an anticipative subject so that the real subject may come after the verb. The word _there_ may be an anticipative subject. It is then called an expletive.

=Exercise.=—Analyze the following sentences. If there is an anticipative subject, state that fact before giving the real subject; thus,—In the sentence, “Once upon a time there were four little rabbits,” the anticipative subject is the expletive _there_; the real subject is _four little rabbits_. The predicate is _were once upon a time_.

1. There would be several insuperable difficulties in adopting
the moon as a residence.

2. Every object on the moon would be only one sixth as heavy as
the same object on the earth. There a box containing a pound of
chocolate bonbons would weigh only two or three ounces.

3. It is a little curious that the effect of a short allowance
of food does not show itself in hunger.

4. There never was such a hailstorm in Wisconsin.

5. It is just the right time of the moon for planting sweet
peas.

6. There were dances, theatricals, and sleighrides that winter.

7. It would amuse me very much to sing while I am hunting.

8. A cannon that breaks loose from its fastenings on a ship is
suddenly transformed into a supernatural beast. It is a monster
developed from a machine; it has the weight of an elephant, the
agility of a mouse, the obstinacy of the ox; it takes one by
surprise, like the surge of the sea; it flashes like lightning;
it is deaf as the tomb; it weighs ten thousand pounds, and it
bounds like a child’s ball.

9. That day there came our first great snowstorm.

10. There lay the beautiful piece of embroidery that mother had
put away so carefully and forgotten so completely.

11. There’s a special providence that watches over idiots,
drunken men, and boys.

12. There came to the beach a poor exile of Erin.

13.

It made the children laugh and play,
To see a lamb at school.

14. In the reign of King Arthur, and in the county of Cornwall,
near to the Land’s End in England, there lived a worthy farmer,
who had an only son, named Jack.

15. There the two old dogs sat and talked of the wonderful
tenacity of rheumatism that has once settled in a dog’s
shoulder.

16. There was one passenger in the coach,—a small, dark-haired
person in a glossy buff calico dress.

17. Professor Boyesen describes what he calls the _saeter_, the
spring migration of the dairy and dairymaids. It is the great
event of the year in all the rural districts.

18. There were three Catherines, two Annes, and a Jane.

19. It is said in Ceylon that the cocoanut, like the magpie and
the robin, will flourish only within sound of the human voice.

20. There is always a sad element in the departure of a steamer.