it
/ɪt/pronoun, noun, adjective
it is spelled I-T: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 8,913 times per million words in written English, the 12th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a pronoun, it means “The third-person singular neuter personal pronoun used to refer to an inanimate object, abstract entity, or non-human living thing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in it?
| Letters | 2: I-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 8,913 times per million words; the 12th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is it?
It appears 8,913 times per million words in written English, the 12th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce it?
- US /ɪt/
- /ɘt/
- UK /ɪt/
It has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-it.ogg, En-us-it.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-it.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with it
Also written: itt.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with it?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as it from its last stressed vowel (/ɪt/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of it
- itself
- its plural
- they plural
- them plural
- i'
- 'its plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- 'ittin' participle, present
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does it mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
pronoun
- 1
The third-person singular neuter personal pronoun used to refer to an inanimate object, abstract entity, or non-human living thing.
Take this book and put it on the shelf.
- 2
A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to a baby or child, especially of unknown gender.
She took the baby and held it in her arms.
- 3
rareA third-person singular pronoun used to refer to an unspecified person.
All these things inclined her, step by step, to submit to the new discovery, whether Queen Victoria's or another's, that each man and each woman has another allotted to it for life, whom it supports, by whom it is supported, till death them
- 4
obsoleteAn affectionate third-person singular personal pronoun.
- 5
derogatoryoffensiveA third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to an animate referent who is transgender or non-binary.
- 6
Refers to someone being identified, often on the phone, but not limited to this situation.
It's me, John.
- 7
The impersonal pronoun, used without referent as the subject of an impersonal verb or statement (known as the dummy pronoun, dummy it or weather it).
It is nearly 10 o’clock.
- 8
The impersonal pronoun, used without referent, or with unstated but contextually implied referent, in various short idioms or expressions.
rough it
noun
- 1
One who is neither a he nor a she; a creature; a dehumanized being.
- 2
The person who chases and tries to catch the other players in the playground game of tag.
In the next game, Adam and Tom will be it…
- 3
UKA game of tag.
Let's play it at breaktime.
- 4
informalA desirable characteristic, as being fashionable.
Man, he's really got it.
- 5
informalSomething desirable or suitable.
Bro, that shirt is not it.
- 6
informalSexual intercourse.
OMG, they were doing it in the storage room.
- 7
informalSex appeal.
She really has it going on.
- 8
Alternative letter-case form of It (“force in the vitalist approach of Georg Groddeck”).
adjective
- 1
colloquialMost fashionable, popular, or in vogue.
noun
- 1
Initialism of information technology.
Hello, IT. Have you tried turning it off and turning it on again? Ok. Well, are you sure that it's plugged in?
- 2
Initialism of inclusive tour.
- 3
Initialism of intercept-time method.
adjective
- 1
Initialism of intrathecal.
noun
- 1
A biological force that inhabits living beings, according to the vitalist approach of Georg Groddeck.
- 2
The Id, in Freudian psychology.
- 3
Alternative letter-case form of it (“desirable quality; quality of being successful, fashionable, in vogue”).
determiner
- 1
obsoleteIts.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
It in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | il, elle, ce, ça , le, la |
| German | er, sie, es , Fänger , IT, EDV |
| Portuguese | ele, ela, isso , o, a , pegador |
| Spanish | ello , le, la, lo , tecnología de la información |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does it come from?
From Middle English it, hit ( > dialectal English hit (“it”)), from Old English hit (“it”), from Proto-West Germanic *hit, from Proto-Germanic *hit (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe (“here; here”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).