It is / is

Question

Wouldn't he be living up to the prophecy, and giving himself the best chance of survival, if he joined those highly trained wizards whose job it was to find and kill Voldemort?

Would there be any difference if “it” was omitted in the second part of sentence ? If yes, pls explain it.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

S LWould there be any difference if “it” was omitted in the second part of sentence ?

No.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

S LWould there be any difference if “it” was omitted in the second part of sentence ?

A bit.

S LIf yes, pls explain it.

A writer makes little decisions like this all the time. The best writers, like our lovely Ms Rowling here, choose correctly more often than not. Without "it", the sentence seems to be saying that these wizards have one job. With it, they do not strictly have a job, per se, but a task to perform. That "whose job it was" almost amounts to an idiomatic expression, and the absence of "it" would be noticeable by the air of poor craftsmanship it would lend the writing.

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