Remove the linking verb with expletives

Hi;

I read an intiguing response to a question posed on Yahoo! Answers of all places.

The question was whether one can omit the 'is' when 'it' immediately precedes it:

The answer made sense, but I would just like confirmation I have understood it correctly.

Here are the question and answer:

Question:Do I need the 'is' in the following construction?

I enjoy using Yahoo! I think it a fine service.


2. "IT" as an object and as an expletive: *"I think it a fine service" versus "I think it is a fine service":

A. "I find it difficult to believe him": "it", in this case, is an EXPLETIVE, that is, it plays a syntactic role in the sentence without adding to meaning (it is in fact a "dummy object"). In other words, it occupies the position of an object (it answers the question, "what do you find?"; the answer is "it", which refers to "to believe him"). By association, in spoken English, one may hear a sentence like "I think it necessary to get it done at once" (instead of "I find it necessary to get it done at once").

B. as you can see, after the verb "find" (or "think"), there is an ADJECTIVE ("difficult", "necessary", etc.);

C. However, your sentence should actually be "I think IT IS a fine service", that is, "it" is not an expletive. It is the OBJECT of the verb "think" since it refers to Yahoo!, which has been mentioned before.

What seems confusing to you, apparently, is the fact that there are two similar constructions with the pronoun "it". In one of them, it has merely a syntactic function ("I think it + adj.": I find/think it necessary/difficult). In this case, "it" is an expletive, that is, it plays a syntactic role. Expletives do not contribute anything to meaning. They merely anticipate a word or phrase (" TO GET it done") that will clarify meaning. In the other construction, the pronoun "it" plays two roles: it functions as the object of the verb ("I think it is a fine service"), and it refers to something that has been mentioned before ("Yahoo!").


So basically, this answers states that there is no need for the linkning verb if the 'it' is a dummy 'it.' However, the 'is' is necessary if the it is the object pronoun; that is, it refers back to its antecedent.

Is this correct?

Thanks.