Grammar Practice in Context - David Bolton, Noel Goodey 1997
72 Special uses of it, they, you
Quick reference
We use it.
• to identify someone or something. Who's that? - It 's Zoe. What’s that?-It’s a shark.
• to give times and dates. It’s ten o’clock. It’s May 3rd. It’s time to leave.
• to describe the weather. It’s raining. It ’s very cold.
• to give distances. It’s five kilometres to the village. It’s a long way to walk.
• to comment on a situation. It’s a pity he can’t come. It isn’t easy to get a job.
• We use it in the following constructions.
• We use it in question tags after everything, something, anything, nothing. Everything was different, wasn’t it? Something’s wrong, isn’t it?
• We use they to mean people in general or unknown people, people in authority.
They say women live longer than men. (= people in general)
They ’ve found the missing girl. (= unknown people, perhaps the police)
They’re going to build a new car park in the town. (= the local authorities) What did they tell you at the bank? (= the bank officials you spoke to)
• We use they, them, their(s) after everybody, nobody, somebody, anybody, etc.
Everybody said they wanted to leave. Someone’s left their umbrella in the car.
We use you to mean people in general, including you and me.
You can see Vesuvius from the hotel. You can pay for most things by credit card.
1 How will Melanie Giles spend Saturday evening? Answer the questions, using it.
Example: Why is Melanie happy? (weekend) Its the weekend.
1 What’s the weather like? (cold/rain) ... and ...
2 Why doesn’t she want to stay at home? (boring) ...
3 What would be a nice thing to do? (nice/go/cinema) ...
4 How far away is the nearest cinema? (take/35 minutes/walk to/Odeon cinema)
5 But what about public transport? (obvious/the bus/quicker) ...
6 The film starts at 14.30. What time is it now? (five to two) ...
7 What would be the best thing to do? (safer/catch/the bus) ...
2 Read the text about the Eurodisney theme park near Paris. Think of the word (either you or they) which best fits each space.
(1) ... say that it’s very expensive to spend a day at Eurodisney. But now (2) ... can get in much more cheaply than (3) ... could when it first opened. (4) ... now charge
a lot less so that (5) ...... can increase the number of visitors. Since it opened, (6) ... ’ve built a lot more rides. (7) ... say Space Mountain is the most exciting ride in the world. I tried it last year. (8) ... really...................................... go very fast, and it’s completely dark, so (9) ... can’t see where (10) ... ’re going. At the end of the ride I noticed that everybody was very quiet and (11) ... all looked a bit pale. But I enjoyed it. It makes (12) ... frightened, but (13) ... feel fine when it’s over! The only problem is that (14) ... can’t take your own food into the park. (15) ... ’ve got to buy food at the cafes and restaurants. I suppose (16) … make more money like that.
3 A is telling В about her holiday in Goa in southern India. В is very interested and surprised by what A is saying. Complete the dialogue by matching B’s short replies.
A
1 Everybody speaks English.
2 Everything’s very cheap.
3 Nobody slept very well.
4 Because everyone was bitten by mosquitoes.
5 But fortunately no-one was ill.
6 Nothing is as beautiful as a Goan sunset.
7 No. As the sun goes down, everything shines like gold.
8 Something bad happened on our last day.
9 Yes, someone stole our camera.
10 No. We told the police, but no-one could help us.
В
a) Does it?
b) Couldn’t they? That’s a pity!
c) Did it?
d) Did they? Did you get it back?
e) Didn’t they? Why not?
f) Is it?
g) Do they?
h) Weren’t they? That’s good.
i) Were they?
j) Isn’t it?
1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... 10...
4 Look at these signs at London airport and write sentences using either it or you.
5 Think of a tourist attraction near where you live. Describe it. Give some general details. Use you and they.
Example: You can visit the castle any day of the week. You can get in free on Sundays. They only charge half price if you’re in a group often or more.
Check your text with a teacher.