Placeholder IT

Certain words such as ‘it and there’ are sometimes used to hold just places, without any serious intent or meaning. They do not in fact refer to any noun, either object or subject. They may represent some notions, feeling or some such general abstractions.

Let us look at some examples

It is written on the medicine bottle that it is dangerous for children to use without prescription

In this what does the first ‘it’ refer to; there is no word that it can point out to except the general caution on the bottle. Similarly what is dangerous? Is it the usage or the bottle? It refers to actually a notion of using without prescription is dangerous. Norms of pronoun usage don't hold good here.


2. It says in the TV that there will be many more natural calamities occurring on the earth than ever before.

It says- what or who says? The 'it' stands for nothing in particular but for some general talk. Similarly in there will be, there stands for a place holder

3. Although it is well known that GMAT is no ordinary test, every one wants to beat it

It is well known—what is well known? No one knows except that it is some kind of knowledge. Wants to beat it is a pronoun it that stands for the test per se.

4. There is no room for lethargy when you want to cross 750 in GMAT
Here, the word ‘there’ is just a place holder; its purpose is to fill up some gap, and aid the flow of the sentence.

Place holders are acceptable usages in formal written communications.

This is just my opinion. Since, I don’t have MGMAT SC guide and don’t follow either MGMAT or anything else for that matter, my comments have nothing to do with what it( MGMAT) says.