The function of ‘it’
Hello, everyone,
“ ... Even if we should want it, escape from technology is no longer possible. It may in fact be that technology has escaped us: the inertia of the entire system of technological civilization is by now so immense that the sorts of choices left for us to make in the future are essentially trivial.“
My question is what is meant by ‘it’ above. Is ‘it’ a demonstrative pronoun or an empty ‘it’ paired with ‘that’ as an extra-posed subject clause? Since I’ve seen this kind of structure underlined for the first time, I’m no way sure how to parse the underlined sentence.
Your guidance would be really appreciated.
*source;
https://books.google.co.kr/books?id=T8ccYtPNJxsC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=%22+It+may+in+fact+be+that+technology+has+escaped+us%22&source=bl&ots=24VxJmMGal&sig=ACfU3U3B2j6DoiH4ys0iGQKpUxmK4ZsQbw&hl=ko&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi6rrDZmPn1AhUCsFYBHalGCcMQ6AF6BAgCEAM#v=onepage&q=%22%20It%20may%20in%20fact%20be%20that%20technology%20has%20escaped%20us%22&f=false
Top answer
deepcosmos an empty ‘it’ paired with ‘that’ as an extra-posed subject clause I'd say it's this. It comes from this somewhat strange underlying sentence: That technology has escaped us may in fact be. You might argue that the following idea is hidden in there: That technology has escaped us may be a fact.
- deepcosmos an empty ‘it’ paired with ‘that’ as an extra-posed subject clause I'd say it's this.
- It comes from this somewhat strange underlying sentence: That technology has escaped us may in fact be.
- You might argue that the following idea is hidden in there: That technology has escaped us may be a fact.
- which gives, through extraposition, It may be a fact that technology has escaped us.
- Another way of looking at it is that "it" refers generally to the situation previously described.
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deepcosmosan empty ‘it’ paired with ‘that’ as an extra-posed subject clause
I'd say it's this. It comes from this somewhat strange underlying sentence:
That technology has escaped us may in fact be.
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