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Comments

• tanisnikana@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  In English, in order to form a valid sentence, there needs to be at least one noun. While you can say “what’s the weather?” “raining,” as a reply, if there’s no implied subject, an empty noun must be established first. English would use “it” as a pure empty noun for the sake of the sentence.

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  • LeninsOvaries@lemmy.cafe ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Is “Hello.” a valid sentence?

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• FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Weather is expressed in different ways in different languages. The fact that English, like many other European languages, uses a mysterious “it” as a subject to say what’s going on is actually the outlier. More languages use a formula more like “rain falls, snow falls, sun shines, etc.”

  So you tell him the “it” stands for “the weather” although that isn’t true. You could more truthfully say it’s a convention and English sentences need a subject. And then you add that “is raining” also transports the idea that it is in the process of happening right now. Don’t question it, accept it.

  Learn a bit of Russian. That language is full of colorful images, irregularities, and inexplicable grammar. More so than English, probably. So you can put him in his place when he complains. Like, dude, y’all don’t even know what blue is!

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  • s0larfl4re@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    i’m from russia, so i do know it, but not as well as i used to since it’s been about 12 years.

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• 667@lemmy.radio ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  This is a “dummy pronoun” and I only know this because this popped up as a TIL earlier this week.

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  • RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Possibly because this exact question was posted by someone else, and that was a response.

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  • XeroxCool@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    My introduction was Xkcd when they hired a mathematician for the weather forecast, then replaced him with a linguist [rollover: and then a software dev]

    xkcd.com/1985/

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    • grue@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The rollover text should’ve ended with a link to www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5wpm-gesOY

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• ryedaft@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  It’s like snow but wetter

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• nokturne213@sopuli.xyz ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  It is the weather, or the state of being outside.

  Would it be easier to look up how to say it is raining in his native language? That is what I would do.

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• lemmyng@lemmy.ca ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  “It is [verb]ing” (as in “it is raining”) can be reinterpreted as “[noun] is happening” (“rain is happening”).

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  • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    French too: il pleut. What is the il pointing to?!?

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    • stormdelay@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The (local) universe

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  • fubbernuckin@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    This is how I’d explain it. More specifically this is an example of a concept called a “dummy pronoun” in English. Phrases like “it is clear that…” Or “it is raining” are using “it” as a dummy pronoun. They’re used to express a verb without expressing a subject. in other words, [verb] is happening.

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    • reattach@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Uh oh - a linguistics Wikipedia article.

      And here I was, planning to work.

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  • andrewta@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I like this. Explains it fairly well

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• scytale@lemmy.zip ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Maybe send the rain emoji to help: 🌧️

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• Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Wait until you FINALLY get the concept across, and he understsnds, and THEN he hears the song “It’s raining men”.

  Then he’ll REALLY be confused!

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  • rumba@lemmy.zip ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Interesting,

    If it’s raining outside and it’s raining men come from the same base concept… “It” has a definition closer to the current state of the environment around me. Though admittedly the still breaks slightly for it’s raining men.

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• Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’m a native English speaker and did very well in English class and I don’t even know what “it” is in this example. I just understand it to be what we say and that it means that rain is falling from the sky right now.

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  • iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    “it” is the general state of the weather.

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  • partial_accumen@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I’m a native English speaker and did very well in English class and I don’t even know what “it” is in this example.

    The status (or state) of the weather.

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  • Weslee@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I’ve never really thought about it, but my first instinct is to say it’s referring to the time “it is raining right now” shortened to “it’s raining”?

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    • hikeandbike@midwest.social ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      “It” would be the subject. Time, or tense would be gleaned from the verb conjugation.

      E.g. “it is raining” versus “it was raining,” where “is” and “was” are two conjugations of “being.”

      The question is more in reference to the subject, “it.” In which case, as partial_accumen describes, “it” is a pronoun representing “the status of the weather.”

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  • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Me fail english? Thats unpossible!

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• Kidplayer_666@lemm.ee ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Hmmm, at least my native language also typically uses an undefined pronoun to express the act of raining

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  • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    es regnet, il pleut …

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  • s0larfl4re@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    what’s your native?

    In Russian, we say «goes rain»

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    • jodanlime@midwest.social ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Where does it go?

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• pelespirit@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  The general ambience is raining.

  We also say:

  • It is muggy, inside or out
  • It is stifling. This could be inside or heat outside
  • It is quiet. Also, inside or out.

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  • NaibofTabr@infosec.pub ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    It is Winter

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• DrMoronicAcid@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  The weather… is raining?

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  • Nemo@midwest.social ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I’d say “the sky” but either way.

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    • swordgeek@lemmy.ca ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The Sky is Crying.

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  • s0larfl4re@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    thanks!

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• relation_anon4238@thelemmy.club ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  “It’s raining outside”, or just explain it in his native language.

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  • sevon@lemmy.kde.social ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    What is raining outside?

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    • executivechimp@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The trees. What do you think?

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  • s0larfl4re@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    «идёт дождь»

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