Expletives

Grammatically speaking, Expletives are words that may provide emphasis or pacing in a sentence but do not—strictly speaking, in and of themselves—communicate an idea. Common Expletive examples include words like there, here, or it where the Expletive precedes the Verb which precedes the Subject. To identify the Subject, ask questions about what is being described and see how the sentence would be rewritten without the Expletive. For expletives like there or here, identifying the subject helps us identify whether to use a plural or singular verb, whereas we always use a singular verb for it (“it is/was”, so never “it are/were”, for Expletives).

It is important to work together. [To work together is important.]

It was strange bumping into you today. [Bumping into you today was strange.]

There is something wrong. [Something is wrong.]

There were never times available. [Times were never available.]

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Here are the papers you asked for. [The papers you asked for are here.]

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Therein lies the truth. [The truth lies therein.]

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Note that not all Expletive sentences can be so easily rewritten (stylistically, we often much prefer the Expletive form), but the act of rewriting can still help us identify the subject.

It is nice to meet you. [To meet you is nice.]

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There is one big problem, though. [One big problem, though, is there.]

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There seems to be no solution. [No solution seems to be there.]

There has to be another way. [Another way has to be there.]

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In other cases, the recommendation is to rewrite the sentence more efficiently and effectively anyway.

Expletive: There was one last question I was hoping to ask.

Less comprehensible and stylistically poorer alternative: One last question I was hoping to ask was there.

More efficient: I was hoping to ask one last question.

Expletive: It is the early bird that catches the worm.

Less comprehensible and stylistically poorer alternative: The early bird that catches the worm is it.

More efficient: The early bird catches the worm.

Careful: The word it opening a sentence or clause (“it was/is”) does not necessarily demonstrate an Expletive. Sometimes, it is a pronoun and can be the Subject. To identify it as a pronoun Subject, consider what precedes the sentence or what it may refer to.

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It was a secret. [My friend told me the code. It was a secret. = The code was a secret]

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It is such a shame. [Our team lost. It is such a shame. = Our team losing is such a shame]

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It was raining.* [*it is a subject even if the referent is a rather abstract concept of the weather / climate / day / experience]  

Sometimes, differentiating an expletive “it is/was” vs a subject “it is/was” comes down to assessing the passage altogether.

Not an Expletive: My sister lectured me because I skipped class. Frankly, it [my affairs or my skipping class] is none of her business.

Expletive: My sister lectured me because I skipped class. Frankly, it is none of her business what I do.