"impersonal verb" meaning in English

See impersonal verb in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: impersonal verbs [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} impersonal verb (plural impersonal verbs)
  1. (linguistics) A verb used only in the infinitive or in the third person. In the third person, the subject is either implied or a dummy. Categories (topical): Linguistics Related terms: defective verb, monopersonal Translations (verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person): verb impersonal [masculine] (Catalan), upersonligt verbum [neuter] (Danish), persoonaton verbi (Finnish), impersonaalinen verbi (Finnish), verbeb impersonnel [masculine] (French), unpersönliches Zeitwort [neuter] (German), unpersönliches Verb [neuter] (German), impersonales Verb [neuter] (German), απρόσωπο ρήμα (aprósopo ríma) [neuter] (Greek), személytelen ige (Hungarian), ópersónuleg sögn [feminine] (Icelandic), verbo impersonale [masculine] (Italian), impersonale [masculine] (Italian), 비인칭 동사 (biinching dongsa) (Korean), vèrbe împèrsonnel [masculine] (Norman), {t+|pt|verbo impessoal|m}} (Portuguese), безли́чный глаго́л (bezlíčnyj glagól) [masculine] (Russian), verbo impersonal [masculine] (Spanish), opersonligt verb [neuter] (Swedish)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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        "A verb used only in the infinitive or in the third person. In the third person, the subject is either implied or a dummy."
      ],
      "id": "en-impersonal_verb-en-noun-bNebZ6IC",
      "links": [
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          "linguistics",
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        ],
        [
          "third person",
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          "dummy",
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(linguistics) A verb used only in the infinitive or in the third person. In the third person, the subject is either implied or a dummy."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "defective verb"
        },
        {
          "word": "monopersonal"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "verb impersonal"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "upersonligt verbum"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "word": "persoonaton verbi"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "word": "impersonaalinen verbi"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "verbeb impersonnel"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "unpersönliches Zeitwort"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "unpersönliches Verb"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "impersonales Verb"
        },
        {
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "aprósopo ríma",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "απρόσωπο ρήμα"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "word": "személytelen ige"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "ópersónuleg sögn"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "verbo impersonale"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "impersonale"
        },
        {
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "biinching dongsa",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "word": "비인칭 동사"
        },
        {
          "code": "nrf",
          "lang": "Norman",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "vèrbe împèrsonnel"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "word": "{t+|pt|verbo impessoal|m}}"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "verbo impersonal"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "bezlíčnyj glagól",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "безли́чный глаго́л"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "opersonligt verb"
        }
      ]
    }
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  "word": "impersonal verb"
}
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          "linguistics"
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        ],
        [
          "third person",
          "third person"
        ],
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          "implied",
          "implied"
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          "dummy",
          "dummy"
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        "(linguistics) A verb used only in the infinitive or in the third person. In the third person, the subject is either implied or a dummy."
      ],
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      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "verb impersonal"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "upersonligt verbum"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "word": "persoonaton verbi"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "word": "impersonaalinen verbi"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "verbeb impersonnel"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "unpersönliches Zeitwort"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "unpersönliches Verb"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "impersonales Verb"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "aprósopo ríma",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "απρόσωπο ρήμα"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "word": "személytelen ige"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "ópersónuleg sögn"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "verbo impersonale"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "impersonale"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "biinching dongsa",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "word": "비인칭 동사"
    },
    {
      "code": "nrf",
      "lang": "Norman",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "vèrbe împèrsonnel"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "word": "{t+|pt|verbo impessoal|m}}"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "verbo impersonal"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "bezlíčnyj glagól",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "безли́чный глаго́л"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "opersonligt verb"
    }
  ],
  "word": "impersonal verb"
}

Download raw JSONL data for impersonal verb meaning in English (4.5kB)

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  "msg": "suspicious translation with '{': {'lang': 'Portuguese', 'code': 'pt', 'sense': 'verb used only in the infinitive or in the third-person', 'word': '{t+|pt|verbo impessoal|m}}'}",
  "path": [
    "impersonal verb"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "noun",
  "title": "impersonal verb",
  "trace": ""
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-04-24 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-04-20 using wiktextract (813e02a and ea19a0a). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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