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If, as it is written in Oxford Dictionaries, 'it' can be used to identify a person, 'it’s me', 'it’s a boy', why are 'she' and 'he' still used and, furthermore, why are people still discussing as to whether they should be replaced with the singular 'they'?

If any, let us use 'it' then, no?

Under a different point of view, do you, expert minds of EL&U, think that the use of 'she' and 'he', the last barricade of gender in English, is declining and that 'it' is taking their place?

Elberich Schneider
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    So you think that grammatically, it should have been: *It's a bird! It's a plane! He's Superman!* … that doesn't work at all. This type of use of it has been around for a long time, is quite distinct from the regular uses of he and she, and is not going to replace them. – Peter Shor Jan 11 '14 at 15:56
  • @Peter, no, I think that it could be 'It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!', but, really, I don't know, this is why I asked. However, as a non-native, I don't see anything incorrect saying 'It's Elberich' or 'It's Peter'. After all, 'it' can work better than the singular 'they'. – Elberich Schneider Jan 11 '14 at 16:04
  • Language just doesn't decide one day that it's changing from pattern A to pattern B. Also there's no necessity to go in a particular direction; it may go towards B, stop halfway, move back, maybe turn towards C, and then all the A speakers have a war against all the D speakers but then acquire what D speakers say in a very limited context, and then something else happens. – Mitch Jan 11 '14 at 16:40
  • Also, I don't think 'he' or 'she' are being replaced by 'it', and I don't think they are barricades, or the last ones of gender. – Mitch Jan 11 '14 at 16:45

2 Answers2

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It in such cases is used only because the clause would otherwise be without a subject. Its use here is quite different from the use of he and she. French has C’est moi, where C’ has the same role. Your name suggests you might be a German speaker. How would you say It’s me in German?

The question of they referring to a singular antecedent is a separate matter. It has been asked many times here, and you may like to search the site to see the answers given.

No, it is certainly not the case that it is taking the place of he and she.

Barrie England
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  • +1, but I don't understand 'It in such cases is used only because the clause would otherwise be without a subject,' because, if I were the speaker, then, in the lack of a subject, I could use 'he' or 'she', 'he's me', 'he's a boy'; nonetheless OED says 'it's me' and 'it's a boy' are correct. So, what do you precisely mean with 'otherwise'? 'otherwise' what? – Elberich Schneider Jan 11 '14 at 16:12
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    @ElberichSchneider That's not the OED, although the OED of course also documents this usage (in more detail, though it doesn't appear to include examples like "it's me"). –  Jan 11 '14 at 16:19
  • @snail, please see meaning #2 at this page http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/it – Elberich Schneider Jan 11 '14 at 16:24
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    @ElberichSchneider Yes, thank you, I've already seen it. For future reference, Oxford publishes more than one dictionary; only one of those is properly referred to as the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). It has its own website, which you can find here. –  Jan 11 '14 at 16:25
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    I mean that otherwise it would be is me, which is ungrammatical. You can, of course, say He is a boy as well as It's a boy, but it means something different. May I ask again if your native language is German? – Barrie England Jan 11 '14 at 16:31
  • @Barrie, the German equivalent of It's me is Ich bin es, usually contracted to Ich bin's (= I am it). – Shoe Jan 11 '14 at 16:42
  • Then let's stick with the French C'est moi as an analogy. – Barrie England Jan 11 '14 at 17:21
  • Shouldn't the example be "It is I."? Or "I am he." – Ben Voigt Jan 11 '14 at 22:46
  • Why? Does anyone say either of those? Normal English is It's me and It's him. – Barrie England Jan 12 '14 at 08:41
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It seems (pun intended) that it used as the subject, to stand in for a gender specific predicate nominative, occurs most frequently when the listener knows that someone or something is present or imminent, but does not know specifically who or what that someone or something is.

In It's a boy!, presumably the listener knew a child was expected, but may have been uncertain of the gender (especially since the idiom developed well before gender screening). It (the child-sex-unknown) has been revealed to be a male.

Similarly, the sky-scanners are not sure what it is - perhaps a bird (gender indifferent), or a plane (neuter, notwithstanding military naming traditions)? On closer scrutiny, it turns out to be a him (or maybe a her if Supergirl is the spotted Krytonian heroine).

bib
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