For example, in the phrase "It is obvious that the violence will continue", the term 'it' is a dummy pronoun, not referring to any agent.
[9] Pronoun-dropping languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Turkish do not require dummy pronouns.
[14] For example, compare: If this analysis is accepted, then the "weather it" is to be considered a "quasi-(verb) argument" and not a dummy word.
Some linguists such as D. L. Bolinger go even further, claiming that the "weather it" simply refers to a general state of affairs in the context of the utterance.
Another common use of dummy pronouns in English is the use of there in existential clauses, such as in the phrase "there are polar bears in Norway.
[21] Other examples of semantically empty pronouns are found with raising verbs in "unraised" counterparts.