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Hans51 Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
"It was in 1884 that an insurance salesman had patented the fountain pen, giving him the sole rights to manufacture it."
"It was in 1884 that an insurance salesman had patented the fountain pen, giving him the sole rights to manufacture it."
Can I rewrite it like this?
"It was in 1884 that an insurance salesman had patented the fountain pen, and it gave him the sole rights to manufacture it."
or
"It was in 1884 that an insurance salesman had patented the fountain pen, which gave him the sole rights to manufacture it."
And then what do "it" and "which" refer to here in the sentence?A whole sentence ahead or the fountain pen?
Or are those sentences not natural to use?
What do you native English speakers think?
Thank you so much as usual in advance!
Can I rewrite it like this?
"It was in 1884 that an insurance salesman had patented the fountain pen, and it gave him the sole rights to manufacture it."
or
"It was in 1884 that an insurance salesman had patented the fountain pen, which gave him the sole rights to manufacture it."
And then what do "it" and "which" refer to here in the sentence?A whole sentence ahead or the fountain pen?
Or are those sentences not natural to use?
What do you native English speakers think?
Thank you so much as usual in advance!
Top answer
" This is a cleft sentence construction. The last "it" refers to the fountain pen. " The sentence is fine.
- " This is a cleft sentence construction.
- The last "it" refers to the fountain pen.
- " The sentence is fine.
- The added "it" refers to the patent that the salesman got.
- " "Which" refers to the patent that the salesman got.
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5 Answers
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Hans51"It was in 1884 that an insurance salesman had patented the fountain pen, giving him the sole rights to manufacture it."The first "it" is a "dummy it." This is a cleft sentence construction.
The last "it" refers to the fountain pen.
Hans51It was in 1884 that an insurance salesman had patented the fountain pen, and it
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Thank you so much, so all of the three sentences carry the same meaning, right?
What do you think?
What do you think?
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Hans51Thank you so much, so all of the three sentences carry the same meaning, right? What do you think?Yes, they do.
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AlpheccaStarsThe sentence is fine. The added "it" refers to the patent that the salesman got.Come to think of it, there is no expression "the patent that the salesman got" directly in the sentence ahead and then is it possible for "it" refer to something that is mentioned before? So I think that "it" refers to "an insurance salesma
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It actually refers to "had patented" which means "obtained a patent."
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