for context, he is not native english speaker as you could probably tell. do i just say outside is raining?
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russian
In this and other similar contexts, when “it” isn’t really referring to anything specific, you can kind of consider it to be “The General State of Existence”.
It’s raining.
It’s cold.
It is what it is.
Make the best of it.
It’s Thursday.
It’s Friday.
Friday.
Gotta get down on Friday.
Best answer here so far.
Maybe send the rain emoji to help: 🌧️
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!
i’m from russia, so i do know it, but not as well as i used to since it’s been about 12 years.
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.
If you’re in Australia you could try saying, “It’s pissing down.”
It’s like snow but wetter
“It’s raining outside”, or just explain it in his native language.
«идёт дождь»
What is raining outside?
The trees. What do you think?
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.
Hmmm, at least my native language also typically uses an undefined pronoun to express the act of raining
what’s your native?
In Russian, we say «goes rain»
Where does it go?
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.
Maybe “it” is the sky?
Me fail english? Thats unpossible!
“it” is the general state of the weather.
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.
As in:
Q: “What is the status of the weather?”
A: “It is raining.”
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”?
“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.”
Maybe try a language you both understand
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!
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.
The weather… is raining?
I’d say “the sky” but either way.
thanks!
This is probably a lot heavier on the technical grammar than you need, but here is the relevant wikipedia page if you want it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dummy_pronoun
Basically English (along with other Germanic languages and a whole bunch of others) doesn’t like having a verb by itself without something to do the verb, so we just put “it” in as a sort of placeholder. The “it” isn’t anything, but the grammar wants there to be something there
