Marcos -advanced grammar

It- pronoun, dummy or anticipatory

1)It is sometimes used to "anticipate" something which appears later in the same sentence:
It's great to see you
It's a pity you (that) can't come to my party
In the first example, it "anticipates" to see you. We can remove it from the sentence and replace it with to see you:
*To see you is great
It is useless to wait. (anticipates the subject - to wait)
It is a pity that you must go. (anticipates the subject - that you must go)

*To wait is useless.

*That you must go is a pity. This usage is very uncommon

it is a third person singular pronoun. However, this word also has other roles which are not related to its pronominal use.

When we talk about time or the weather, we use sentences such as:
What time is it?
It is four o'clock
It is snowing
It's going to rain
Here, we cannot identify precisely what it refers to. It has a rather vague reference, and we call this Dummy it . Dummy
it is also used, equally vaguely, in other expressions:
Hold it!
Take it easy!
Can you make it to my party?
In the following 5 sentences it acts as a pronoun, dummy or anticipatory it
1) It won't do any good to hide from me. / Pronoun it / Dummy it /Anticipatory it /
2) I think you've broken it. / Pronoun it / Dummy it / Anticipatory it /
3) It's very kind of you to see me at short notice. / Pronoun it / Dummy it / Anticipatory it /
4) It was after midnight when I left the office. / Pronoun it /Dummy it /Anticipatory it /
5) I've had it with this place - I'm leaving! /Pronoun it / Dummy it / Anticipatory it

Review/answers
There is only one pronoun it in this exercise, in sentence (2). As a pronoun, it can be replaced by a noun, or, more
accurately, by the plus a noun: I think you've broken the computer
You can test for anticipatory it by "inverting" the sentence in which it appears:
(1) It won't do any good to hide from me ~To hide from me won't do any good
The it in (3) is also anticipatory ( To see me at short notice is very kind of you).
Dummy it is found in (4) and (5). Dummy it refers to time, as in (4) or to the weather, or to something inspecifiable, as
in (5).

It as a preparatory subject
When the subject is a phrase that includes a gerund, it is used as a provisional subject to begin the sentence. Instead of
saying ‘Your trying to deceive us is no good’, we generally say ‘It is no good your trying to deceive us’.

It + verb + subject complement + gerund phrase

• It won’t be any good my talking to him about it.
• It is no use trying to convince him.
• It was a tough job starting the car with such a weak battery.
• It is no fun having so many children to look after.
• It is just silly throwing away your chances just like that.
It is often possible to replace the gerund with an infinitive.
• It won’t be any good for me to talk to him about it.
• It is no use for us to try to convince him.

It + verb + clause
When the subject is a clause, the sentence usually begins with it. Instead of saying ‘That he was once a terrorist is true’,
we generally say ‘It is true that he was once a terrorist’.
• It does not matter whether it rains or not. (More natural than Whether it rains or not does not matter.)
• It is clear that he overheard our conversation. (More natural than That he overheard our conversation is clear.)
• It is quite evident that you are not really interested in the question. (That you are not really interested in the
question is quite evident.)
• It is certain that he left the place in haste. (That he left the place in haste is certain.)

Introductory it with seem

Introductory it is also used with verbs like seem, appear and look when the subject is an infinitive phrase or a clause.
• It seemed strange to see him there.
• It appears possible that the two companies may merge.
• It appeared unwise to offend him.
• It looks improper to behave like that.