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Eipjoo Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Do they call this ‘it’ expletive?
Given the example:
Was it then that I thought of Alan? No, earlier. From the very first wave of panic my mind reached out to him. Yes, even then, in the heart of the fear, there was a still small voice saying, This will change your life. Sometimes that’s what it takes to bring people together, a crisis, a tragedy. You could say that’s what brought David and I together. I would not have been in that place were it not for my crisis.
There are two nominal relative clauses starting with what.
The first one has it after what. Do they call this ‘it’ expletive?
Was it then that I thought of Alan? No, earlier. From the very first wave of panic my mind reached out to him. Yes, even then, in the heart of the fear, there was a still small voice saying, This will change your life. Sometimes that’s what it takes to bring people together, a crisis, a tragedy. You could say that’s what brought David and I together. I would not have been in that place were it not for my crisis.
There are two nominal relative clauses starting with what.
The first one has it after what. Do they call this ‘it’ expletive?
Top answer
eipjoo The first one has it after what. Do they call this ‘it’ expletive? Yes.
- eipjoo The first one has it after what.
- Do they call this ‘it’ expletive?
- Yes.
- An alternate name is "dummy it ".
- It doesn't refer to any object or idea; it's merely a filler to give "takes" a subject.
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1 Answers
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eipjooThe first one has it after what. Do they call this ‘it’ expletive?Yes. An alternate name is "dummy it". It doesn't refer to any object or idea; it's merely a filler to give "takes" a subject.
CJ
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