It is a word that describes the purpose of the word "there" in a sentence such as, "There is a bird in the tree." Expletive is one word, but there is another, longer word, and I need that word.
Asked
Active
Viewed 37 times
2
-
The purpose of "there" in this construction is to postpone the appearance of the true subject "bird," essentially for sentence variety. Interjection might be the word you're seeking. – Zan700 Jun 21 '22 at 02:00
-
1Wait, are you sure you mean "expletive"? Have you checked a dictionary? – aparente001 Jun 21 '22 at 02:00
-
1This ELL question might help - is the word you're looking for "existential"? – Stuart F Jun 21 '22 at 08:58
-
@aparente001 Never use a dictionary for grammar questions! Expletive is a regular linguistics term used to refer to dummy elements. – Araucaria - Him Jun 21 '22 at 10:19
-
@Araucaria-Nothereanymore. I reopened the question... only to close it as a duplicate. Hope that works. (Interestingly, nobody mentioned "expletives" there.) – Laurel Jun 21 '22 at 11:39
-
@Laurel , aparente001 See here for examples. I think the new link’s probably ok, but it asks about the name of the clause/construction, not the dummy subject. I think it will come out in the wash, though. – Araucaria - Him Jun 21 '22 at 11:49
-
Your choices are: dummy subject / dummy pronoun / existential ‘there’ / existential subject / expletive ‘there’ / anticipatory subject / anticipatory ‘there’ / inserted ‘there’. I’d avoid the ‘anticipatory’ ones. – Araucaria - Him Jun 21 '22 at 11:55
-
@Araucaria-Nothereanymore. - what a funny term. Thanks. When I saw expletive, I thought of the old #(&*^(), like the supposed reason for all the gaps in the Nixon Watergate tapes. – aparente001 Jun 21 '22 at 17:36