It as subject

Question

Dear friends,

I got a question. Please help!!

"It is interesting what he plans to do and how he will do it."

In this sentence, it refers two things: what he plans to do, and how he will do it. Is it correct? Can we change "it" to "they? Why?

Thank you very much!

Fandorin · Accepted Answer

AnonymousDear friends,

I got a question. Please help!!

"It is interesting what he plans to do and how he will do it."

In this sentence, it refers two things: what he plans to do, and how he will do it. Is it correct? Yes.

Can we change "it" to "they? Why?
No, we can't. Because it will make no sense then. The idea of the sentence is to show that both actions (his plans and manner of accomplishing it ) are of interest.

Thank you very much!

Dokterjokkebrok · Answer

Hi

What you're talking about is 'preparatory it'. 'It' functions as the provisional subject, but the real subject actually is another part of the sentence.

I don't think this a good structure: They are interesting what he plans to do and how he will do it.

'It' must be able to replace the real subject in your sentence. So,

/ What he plans to do and how he will do it / is /interesting./

Subject Predicator Subject Attribute

/ It (replaces the sentence above / is / interesting./

But other than that, I just think the 'they are' instead of 'it is' simply is a structure that is not used.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi,

Thanks a lot for answering my question.

I love this forum.

A-Fang

It as subject

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