Grammar about noun phrases

Question

In this sentence "What’s it like learning English as a second language?", is the phrase "learning English as a second language" a noun pharse, why does it comes after the word "like"?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Notice that "What's it like?" can stand as a sentence.

You have been studying English. What’s it like?

The pronoun "what" is the object of the preposition "like". Here is a typical answer.

It is like opening a world of possibilities.

In your sentence, "learning English as a second language" is an https://www.thoughtco.com/absolute-phrase-grammar-1689049. There should be a comma after "like."

 What’s it like, learning English as a second language?

Information on absolute phrases.

https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/grammar/sentences/what-is-an-absolute-phrase.html

CalifJim · Answer

pen grape 927is the phrase "learning English as a second language" a noun pharse

Perhaps it is a sort of 'noun pharse' , because in modern grammar, which I think you are mostly interested in, it's not a noun phrase but a gerund-participle clause. At least that's how I understand it, but I am not an expert at modern grammar. Stay tuned for other answers.

pen grape 927why does it ~~comes~~ come after the word "like"?

After auxiliary do (do, does, did) you must use the plain form of the verb.

The statement form is

Learning English as a second language || is || like _______.

In the question form the missing answer is replaced by "like what" and put at the beginning:

Like what is learning English as a second language?

But we can also write that so that it strands the preposition 'like' at the end:

What is learning English as a second language like?

But this puts a lot of words between 'is' and 'like', so we can substitute a dummy 'it' for 'learning English as a second language' and move that clause to the end again:

What is it like learning English as a second language?

Here "it" is an anticipatory word that replaces all those words that come later.

Lastly, "What is" contracts to "What's":

What's it like learning English as a second language?

'like' is the only preposition that I know of that occurs in this pattern.

Here are a few more examples. They all end with a gerund-participle clause just as your example does.

What is it like being the first African-American president?
What is it like having people bring all of their troubles to you?
What is it like working with a composer who is just a phone call away?

In each case you can remove 'it' and put 'like' at the end. That also gives a grammatical sentence. For example, the first one:

What is being the first African-American president like?

However, it is rare to find it written that way. The version with "What is it like" is preferred.

CJ

[x-post - It takes me a long time to write some of these posts.]

Grammar about noun phrases

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