How can I get to know kinds of English impersonal verbs?
1. It is spring.
2. It rains hard in summer.
3. It snowed hard yesterday.
4. It is 2 p.m.
5. It is Jun 22nd.
6. It is Saturday.
7. He is an architect.
["Rains" and "snowed" are impersonal verbs. In #1, is 'is' an impersonal verb? In #4, 5 and 6, is' is' used as an impersonal verb? In #7, 'is' is not used as an impersonal verb, right?]
In linguistics, an impersonal verb is one that has no determinate subject. For example, in the sentence "It rains", rain is an impersonal verb and the pronoun it does not refer to anything.
Sentences that contain personal verbs typically have a subject noun — a person, place or thing that is acting in the sentence.
In a broader and more usual sense, however, impersonal verbs in English are those that use a meaningless "it" as the subject.
#7 you are correct.
To identify impersonal verbs, you need to understand their characteristics. Impersonal verbs are those that lack a specific subject and refer to general conditions or states. They are often used with the pronoun "it" in English.
Let's analyze each example you provided:
1. "It is spring." - In this case, "is" is not an impersonal verb. The subject "it" refers to the season, but it is still a specific subject.
2. "It rains hard in summer." - Here, "rains" is an impersonal verb. The subject "it" does not refer to anything specific; it is used to signal the general condition of rain in summer.
3. "It snowed hard yesterday." - Similarly, "snowed" is an impersonal verb. The subject "it" is used to express the general condition of snowfall in the past.
4. "It is 2 p.m." - In this case, "is" is not functioning as an impersonal verb. It is a linking verb connecting the subject "it" to the specific time of 2 p.m.
5. "It is Jun 22nd." - Again, "is" is not an impersonal verb. It links the subject "it" to the specific date of June 22nd.
6. "It is Saturday." - Similarly, "is" is not functioning as an impersonal verb. It links the subject "it" to the specific day of the week, Saturday.
7. "He is an architect." - Correct, "is" is not used as an impersonal verb here. It is a linking verb connecting the subject "he" to the predicate "an architect."
So to summarize, in your examples, only "rains" and "snowed" can be considered impersonal verbs since they refer to general conditions. The other instances of "is" are not impersonal verbs as they connect to specific subjects or express a specific state.