syntactic expletive
syntactic expletive · syntactic expletives
A pronoun that is used at the start of a sentence or clause when the referent is not…A pronoun that is used at the start of a sentence or clause when the referent is not immediately known, but an argument for the verb is syntactically required.
Meaning
1 sensesA pronoun that is used at the start of a sentence or clause when the referent is not immediately known, but an argument for the verb is syntactically required.
In the sentences "It is a hammer that is needed." and "There are hammers in the toolbox.", both "it" and "there" are syntactic expletives.
Forms
plural: syntactic expletives| Singular | syntactic expletive |
|---|---|
| Plural | syntactic expletives |
regular