impersonal
cold and not friendly, as if you do not care about the person
Not showing personal feelings, interest, or warmth; emotionally distant in manner or tone.
about people in general, not about one specific person
Not directed at or intended for a particular person; general rather than personal.
not personal because it is done by a large system or technology
Characterized by a lack of personal contact or individual attention, especially in services, organizations, or technology-based processes.
in grammar, used without a real subject like a person
In grammar, describing a verb, clause, or construction that does not refer to a specific person and often has no real subject (commonly using a dummy subject like it or there).
written in a neutral way, without saying I or you
Using a neutral, objective style that avoids referring directly to the writer or reader (often using passive voice or third-person wording).
- Base: impersonal
impersonal it
1dummy it without real meaning
“it” used as a subject with no real meaning
- The “it” in “It’s snowing” is sometimes called impersonal it.
- We use impersonal it in time expressions like “It’s late.”
- In class, they practiced rewriting sentences that use impersonal it.
- In “It’s cold,” “it” is impersonal it.
- We often use impersonal it for weather.
impersonal passive
1passive with dummy subject
a passive form that doesn’t say who did it
- The notice uses an impersonal passive: “It has been decided that parking will be restricted.”
- Writers sometimes choose an impersonal passive to avoid blaming anyone directly.
- In some varieties of English, impersonal passives are more common in formal announcements.
- The sign uses an impersonal passive.
- Impersonal passives are common in formal rules.
impersonal pronoun
1pronoun used generally, not personally
a pronoun that means “people in general,” not one person
- In English, “you” is often used as an impersonal pronoun, as in “You never know what will happen.”
- Some languages use different words specifically as impersonal pronouns.
- The teacher asked students to replace “I” with an impersonal pronoun to make the statement more general.
- “You” can be an impersonal pronoun.
- An impersonal pronoun means people in general.
impersonal style
1formal writing without I/you
a formal style that doesn’t say I or you
- Many universities recommend an impersonal style in lab reports.
- The editor changed several sentences to an impersonal style to make the article sound more objective.
- If you want an impersonal style, you can use passive voice in some sentences.
- Please write in an impersonal style.
- This report uses an impersonal style.
impersonal verb
1verb without a personal subject
a verb used without a real person as the subject
- In “It is raining,” the verb phrase is often described as impersonal.
- Some grammar books call “seem” an impersonal verb in sentences like “It seems that she’s right.”
- The lesson compared personal and impersonal verbs across several languages.
- “It is raining” uses an impersonal verb.
- Some languages have many impersonal verbs.