How is it

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How is it that he left early?http://www.yourdictionary.com/howPlease explain the grammatical form and function of "it" and "that" in the given example.

Rover_KE · Accepted Answer

'How is it that he left early?' means 'For what reason did he leave early?' or, more simply, 'Why did he leave early?'

CalifJim · Answer

JigneshbharatiPlease explain the grammatical form and function of "it" and "that" in the given example.

"it" is a dummy pronoun functioning as the subject in the clause "How is it". "that" is the relative word required by the cleft construction, about which more later.

"how" substitutes for "why" in this idiom for some reason, probably related to an older form "How comes it that". The shorter "How come?" is still used as another way of asking "Why?" Thus, the sentence is saying

Why is it that he left early?

This comes from the corresponding declarative, which takes the form of this cleft construction:

It is because ... that he left early.

which in turn is created from the non-cleft version:

He left early because ....

Reversing these transformations, we can build the final structure of the question by starting with a very plain form of the answer. For that let's suppose he left early because he was nervous.

He left early because he was nervous. (Answer; statement)
It is because he was nervous that he left early.
(Answer in cleft form. It is and that are required. The because-clause is the highlighted element that is moved between It is and that.)
Why is it that he left early? (Question form, omitting the words of the answer. Note the inversion: 'it is' becomes 'is it'.)
How is it that he left early? (Question with the idiomatic "How" for "Why".)

CJ

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