dummy

Unlike normal pronouns, dummy pronouns do not replace a noun, phrase, or clause.
Dummy pronouns are also commonly referred to as expletive pronouns.

In English, you usually need to have a subject before the verb.  Sometimes we use ‘dummy subjects‘ when the ‘real’ subject comes later in a clause.  The two dummy subjects in English are ‘it’ and ‘there’.

BE + of NOUN PHRASE

ADJECTIVES, C2, dummy, NOUNS

Why say “is of interest” instead of “is interesting“? ‘is of + noun‘ is more formal and in academic writing, we use the noun form of a word more often.  More importantly, ‘of+noun’ functions as a noun in this position.  Therefore, it can often collocate correctly with modifiers.  For example:  “greatest interest” is much more […]

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‘It should be noted that’ (passives to summarise)

academic, C1, dummy, evaluate, formal, PASSIVES, summarise

In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 36 in the category of PASSIVES is defined as: ‘it’ as a dummy subject, to summarise or evaluate in discussions, usually in formal or academic writing. This point often overlaps C1 impersonal modal passive reporting. *This might clash with B2. A search of the formal patterns found in the

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