190. Special Uses of “it”

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“It” is necessary in some surprising places in English

THE NEED TO CONSIDER “IT”

In elementary courses, the pronoun it is often linked with two main uses: expressing the same meaning as a previously-mentioned or obvious noun (not always such a simple matter – see 28. Pronoun Errors), and introducing specific information like weather conditions (it’s raining), times (it was midday), distances (it is 25 km to Rome) and situations (it was dark).

Elsewhere within this blog, some other uses are given consideration (alongside a surprising place where it cannot be used: see 104. Naming Data Sources with “As”). However, there is no extensive and systematic survey. Although such surveys do exist in mainstream grammar descriptions, I wish to present my own one here. This is partly because I have my own classification, and partly because I wish to give particular attention, as ever, to academic and professional contexts.

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MORE ADVANCED “IT” USES

1. Self-Identification

If you are talking to someone who cannot see you, for example on the phone, it is usually necessary after an introductory greeting to identify yourself. Sometimes you should begin it is…, sometimes this is…. The former is normal if you know the addressee and contact them frequently; the latter otherwise. To identify yourself to someone who can see you, say I am.

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2. Statement Postponing

This particular use of it is considered in some depth in these pages in 103. Representing a Later Statement with “It…”. What it refers to is not a previous or obvious noun, but a subsequently-mentioned verb-based statement:

(a) It is argued that low taxes maximise government income.

Here, the statement that it represents (underlined) has been made noun-like by a preceding that, but elsewhere it may instead have -ing or to or a question word added to its verb (maximise above). The correspondence of it to the statement can be seen from the fact that the sentence means the same if the statement is moved to the start of the sentence in place of it. The usual reason for preferring to start with it instead of the statement is the English preference for placing long phrases at the end of a sentence. For details, see the relevant post.

In (a), there is a passive verb after it (is argued), useful when the subject of the verb’s active equivalent needs to be unmentioned. Perhaps more common is a complement-needing verb like BE, SEEM or REMAIN, with a following adjective or noun, e.g. It is a joy to… (see 318. “It is” + Noun and Another Verb).

A more advanced type of statement-postponing it is in the object position after another verb:

(b) Some writers believe (that) it is possible to travel back in time.

Here, the it sentence is made into the object of believe by means of a visible or understood that – the typical way of placing any statement in the object position (see 153. Conjunction Uses of “that”, second section).

Sometimes, however, there is an alternative. If the verb after it is a form of BE, like is above, there may be an option of dropping (that) and putting BE into a visible or understood infinitive form to be instead: believe it (to be) possible… above. It then becomes the object of the verb before it, and if to be is not expicitly included, the next word (possible…) would be an “object complement” – describing the object without being linked to it by a visible verb in between (see 220. Features of Complements, #1).

The possibility of using it (to be)… instead of (that) it is… usually arises when the main verb, of which the it statement is the object, expresses an opinion or personal perception like believe above. Other common ones are CONSIDER, DECLARE, DEEM, FIND, HOLD, IMAGINE, JUDGE, SEE, SUPPOSE, TAKE and THINK (see 92. Verbs with an Object + “as”). The underlined ones cannot omit to be after it. For an example using FIND, see 312. Grammar Command Test 3, #d.

Similar to these verbs are DESCRIBE, REGARD, THINK OF and VIEW, which need as after it instead of to be (regards it as necessary to…), and MAKE (= “cause to be”) which allows neither to be nor as:

(c) A shortage of fertilizer made it necessary to rotate crops.

Here, MAKE IT has a directly-following adjective (necessary); elsewhere, it may have a noun (see 141. Ways of Using MAKE, “Other Structures with MAKE”, #1). 

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3. Emphasising

This is a well-known and widely-described use of it, so is only briefly summarised here. An example is:

(d) It is mainly demand that determines prices.

Again, it represents something following (demand), but not a statement and not located at the end. Here it is a noun; elsewhere it might be an adverb or adverb-like preposition phrase:

(e) It was willingly that the country went to war.

The word(s) represented by it are what such sentences emphasise. They are separated from it by is or similar, and followed by that (or who after a person, when after a time, where after a place – see 200. Special Uses of Relative Clauses). The emphasis is the kind where the relevant wording is being very clearly marked as the main information in the sentence – leaving no doubt that it is what the sentence is “about” (see 125. Stress and Emphasis).

Writers choose to emphasise with it in this way when they fear that a standard sentence might fail to indicate which information is the most important. For example, writing (d) as Demand determines prices risks prices being understood as the main point rather than demand, since ordinary sentences usually place the key information at the end (see 156. Mentioning what the Reader Knows Already).

Making the verb passive might also overcome this problem, since it is a way of placing information at the end of a sentence, but some verbs cannot be passive (see 113. Verbs that Cannot be Passive), and sometimes the end is undesirable for other reasons. Moreover, the end of the sentence is not a guaranteed means of ensuring the right interpretation. Beginning with It is…, on the other hand, can overcome all of these problems. It is similar to, but not the same as, beginning with emphasis-showing what (see 145. Highlighting with “What” Sentences).

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4. Anticipating an Object

It was indicated above that some English verbs can have as their object a statement starting with that. Most of these verbs can go directly before that:

(f) Global warming means that energy sources are changing.

A few verbs, however, need it in between. Mostly expressing liking/disliking or arranging, they include ABHOR, DETEST, HATE, LOATH, APPRECIATE, ENJOY, (DIS)LIKE, LOVE, ARRANGE, FIX, SEE TO and TAKE (= conclude: see 264. Variations in the Use of TAKE, #18) – but not VALUE and WELCOME, which need the fact instead of it. An example is:

(g) Some children hate it that they have to go to school.

Of course, these verbs do not always have a that statement as their object. With ordinary noun objects, it cannot be added. However, -ing verb objects (see 70. Gerunds) mostly allow a choice, e.g. hate (it) having to….

Sometimes it after these verbs is followed not by a noun-like that phrase, but by an adverb-like phrase beginning if or when. Even VALUE and WELCOME then need it. The impact on the meaning is to make it less factual. For example, replacing that in (g) with if would suggest that going to school was not a normal experience for the subject some children.

The verb APPRECIATE is especially notable. Before it that it expresses appreciation for something already done, but before it if it makes a request more polite (see 166. Appropriacy in Professional English). The requesting use needs would, followed normally by could with the other verb:

(h) We would appreciate it if payment could be made immediately.

With three other verbs – LEAVE, OWE and TAKE – it anticipates a to-verb object separated by a preposition phrase:

(i) People LEAVE IT to the government TO FIND volunteers.

This means the government have to find volunteers. Replacing leave with owe would say people have a duty to do the finding. Take it needs upon themselves after it, making the sentence mean people choose to do the finding.

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5. After “worth”

Worth is a preposition with some adjective-like uses (see 226. Words with Complicated Grammar 2, #1). One is in the “complement” position, describing an earlier noun separated from it by BE or similar:

(k) A visit to the Taj Mahal is worth it.

The word it is necessary after worth to meet the grammatical requirements of worth’s prepositional status. It is a “dummy” it, like that in (4) above. Worth it could also follow it is…, any subsequent verb having to, not the usual -ing (see 165. Confusions of Similar Structures 2, #2).

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6. Explaining a Complaint

If there are two reasons for a complaint, one more obvious than the other, the more obvious one can be introduced with It is not just…, the other one following in a new sentence (see 228. Exotic Grammar Structures 5, #2).

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7. After “as” + Citation Verb

Citation verbs facilitate reporting from an academic source (see 76. Tenses of Citation Verbs). One way in which many can be linked to the reported information is within a parenthesis starting with as (see 183. Statements between Commas), often at the start of a sentence:

(l) As Jones (2020, p. 43) notes, dangerous drugs are “easier to obtain than sweets”.

In this example, the citation verb notes ends the parenthesis. However, some citation verbs need a following it before the end, e.g. expresses it above. Other verbs with this need include CHARACTERISE, DEFINE, DEPICT, EVALUATE, PORTRAY, PRESENT, PHRASE, PUT, REPRESENT, SEE (= interpret) and SUMMARISE.

A pointer to a verb after as needing it is the verb’s inability to be used with that… . All of the verbs in the list have it, and NOTE in (l) does not, allowing Jones … notes that… (when SEE has that…, it means “recognise” rather than “interpret: see 293. Tricky Grammar Contrasts 4, #4). A problem, though, is that there are plenty of verbs which allow neither that nor as…it, such as CRITICISE (see 279. Grammatical Differences between Citation Verbs, #5).

PUT and PHRASE in this list actually need it wherever they are used with the same meaning (see 242. Words with Unexpected Grammar 3, #c). Without a preceding as, they and their it object usually precede a manner adverb like simply, plus by saying or a colon, e.g. Jones (…) puts it simply by saying… . Other possible adverbs include bluntly, clearly, concisely, delicately, mildly and nicely.

There is also a non-reporting parenthetical use of PUT IT and PHRASE IT, describing one’s own statement. This requires the verbs to be in the to (infinitive) form with one of the above adverbs, e.g. to put it simply.

189. Expressing Sufficiency

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Words expressing sufficiency are not numerous, but their grammar can cause problems

VARIETY AND FORMS OF SUFFICIENCY WORDS

Sufficiency is usually expressed in English by enough or, more formally, a word containing the letters SUFFIC-. Both of these alternatives can represent different word classes (i.e. be different “parts of speech”). The possibilities are as follows:

It may seem strange that the same spelling can represent so many different word classes, but this is quite common in English – for other examples, see 3. Multi-Use Words and 153. Conjunction Uses of “that”. In this post I wish to clarify how the above and some other sufficiency words are used, and to describe some grammatical structures that are particularly associated with them.

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THE CONCEPT OF SUFFICIENCY

A sufficient quantity is one that meets a desired level. For example, if food is desired to a level that overcomes hunger, a sufficient quantity is the amount that achieves this – either exactly or with some to spare. The idea of sufficiency can be linked not just with pleasant ideas like food but also unpleasant ones like noise or suffering. In such cases, making the link usually implies a desire for the supply to stop. For example, enough noise tends to imply “I do not want any more noise”.

The idea of sufficiency is not the same as that of abundance – despite my computer’s thesaurus listing abundant, ample and plenty as synonyms of sufficient. These words refer to a quantity that most people would consider well above average. In most cases, such a quantity will ensure sufficiency (often being referred to as more than enough), but this is not inevitable: an abundant quantity can still fail to meet a sufficiency level that is very high. Thus we can say that an abundant quantity is not necessarily sufficient just as a sufficient one is not necessarily abundant.

This difference between sufficiency and abundance is useful for deciding whether or not particular statements are expressing sufficiency. Compare the following:

(a) People were wealthy enough to own a car.

(b) People were so wealthy that they could own a car.

The presence of enough in (a) certainly makes it a statement of sufficiency. But is so in (b) a true paraphrase? I would argue not. Sentence (a) tells us nothing about the overall wealth of people – they might indeed be quite poor. Sentence (b), however, does link people with wealth – so means “very”. A suitable paraphrase might be were very wealthy and consequently could….

Alongside the sufficiency statement in (a), there is also the naming of a consequence (…to own a car). Consequence-naming is common but not compulsory in sufficiency statements. It is typically done by adding a to verb on to the end of the sentence (see the last part of 32. Expressing Consequences).

Negative sufficiency statements are most easily made by placing not before enough or in- before sufficient(ly). Statements with too, e.g. …too poor to own… in (a), are similar (see 13. Hidden Negatives), but like so statements they are probably not exact sufficiency equivalents: too poor appears to indicate more poverty than not wealthy enough.

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GRAMMATICAL VARIATION OF SUFFICIENCY EXPRESSIONS

Sufficiency expressions are of various grammatical types.

1. Noun/Pronoun Uses

When enough acts like a noun, it is considered to be not a noun but a pronoun. It has grammatical features of pronouns (e.g. inability to be used after a or the), and like most pronouns it refers to different (sufficient) things in different situations (see 28. Pronoun Errors). In the following example, enough is the subject of its sentence and represents a sufficient quantity of something like “work” or “action”:

(c) Not enough is being done to alleviate world poverty.

The noun sufficiency does not seem to be very usable instead of the pronoun enough. It certainly could not replace enough in (c). The place where it seems most able to do so is after there – e.g. there is a sufficiency (of)… – though this is rather wordy. The main use of sufficiency seems to be not for asserting a sufficiency but as a means of talking about an already-established one, like this:

(d) The sufficiency of the government’s measures was clear.

A more usable alternative to the pronoun enough is all (that) combined with NEED or similar (BE NECESSARY, HAVE TO etc.) + is. A famous example is the Beatles song title All You Need is Love (= love is enough). A more everyday example might be All (that) we have to do is wait.

The last word in such statements must correspond to all; if it does not, all will mean “everything” instead of “the sufficient thing” (see 293. Tricky Grammar Contrasts 4, #6). Linking all (that) with a verb that is not like NEED will also change the meaning of all (to “the only thing”). Care is needed in using all (that) not to say *all what instead (see 231. Confusions of Similar Structures 3, #1).

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2. Adjective Uses

Enough acts like an adjective when it gives information about a nearby noun, like this:

(e) Deserts exist where there is not enough rainfall.

In this case, enough directly precedes its noun. It can also follow it, either in the normal way with a link verb in between (…where rainfall is not enough) or, unusually, without one (demand enough). The adjective-like status of enough is confirmed by the fact that, in the two main positions, the adjective sufficient is a perfectly acceptable, if slightly more formal, alternative. The adjectives adequate and satisfactory are also synonyms, though the latter rather negatively suggests more would be better (see 284. Words with a Surprising Meaning, #5).

With the adjective-like use, a following to verb in the active voice may have either active or passive meaning. In (e), the former would be understood with the ending …where rainfall is not enough to water the land, the latter with …not enough to record (see 83. Adjectives before a “to” Verb).

Strictly speaking, however, it is not quite accurate to call enough an adjective in the above examples. Instead, it falls into the category of “determiners” – adjective-like words that replace rather than accompany a(n) or the before a noun (see 110. Nouns without “the” or “a”). Thus, although it is possible to say the sufficient effort of…, one cannot replace sufficient with enough.

Another limitation of adjective-like enough is that it is not usable with all noun types (a characteristic shared by many other determiners – see, for example, 169. “All”, “Each” and “Every”). It can accompany uncountable nouns (e.g. enough evidence) and plural countable nouns (e.g. enough people), but not singular countable ones (*enough person). Sufficient is the same.

To overcome the inability of adjective-like enough to accompany the or a(n) directly before a noun, one must use the pronoun form instead. This means adding of between enough and the or a(n). For example, one has to say enough of the money to refer to particular money rather than money in general (the meaning in enough money).

To use a(n) after enough of, the noun must, as usual, be countable, e.g. enough of a disaster. In such cases, the sufficiency is of quality rather than quantity: not the number of (disasters) but the size or importance of (a single one).

When using of after enough, care is needed to follow it with a(n) or the (or similar, e.g. this): placing a noun directly after of, e.g. *enough of money, is a common error (see 133. Confusions of Similar Structures 1, #1). For more on the use of of after quantity words, see 160. Uses of “of”, #5.

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3. Adverb Uses

Enough and sufficiently (and also adequately) are adverbs when they add information about a word that is not noun-like. The partner word may be a verb, adjective or other adverb (see 120. Six Things to Know about Adverbs, #2). In the following sentence, it is a verb:

(f) Children thrive if they play enough (play sufficiently/adequately).

When enough partners a verb, it must usually follow it. Care is needed to distinguish the adverb use in this position from the pronoun one. In the pronoun use, enough is the object of the verb. It is recognisable as such if there is no other possible object and the verb is the kind that normally needs one (see 8. Object-Dropping Errors). In (f), enough would be a pronoun if the verb was do instead of play.

When enough partners an adjective or adverb, it must come after – cf. wealthy enough in (a) above. This makes enough different from other “degree” adverbs like fairly, quite, rather, so, too and very (see 194. Adverbs that Say How Much). Sufficiently can always replace enough, but it must go first (sufficiently wealthy).

One other relevant adverb is only. In suitable contexts before a noun it means “not enough”, as for example in only one week describing schooling received in a year (see 251. The Grammar of “Only”).

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4. Verb Uses

The verb SUFFICE is mostly used without a directly-following noun (“object” or “complement”) so that it is “intransitive” and hence not usual in the passive voice (see 113. Verbs that cannot be Passive). As the table above indicates, it normally corresponds to BE ENOUGH, e.g.:

(g) The rainfall suffices (= is enough) to meet the needs of the population.

The fact that SUFFICE is a single word makes it useful for paraphrasing (see 270. Paraphrasing Adjectives with Words of Other Kinds). It easily combines with the kind of to verb that is common after enough (to meet above), and also with for + NOUN (…suffices for everyone).

A fixed phrase containing SUFFICE is suffice (it) to say (that…). Used either at the start of a sentence or as a parenthetical statement, it normally signals indirect speech. It means that negative information is being withheld, and as such illustrates the “characterising” use of indirect speech (see the end of 127. When to Use Indirect Speech). The reason why suffice lacks -s in this phrase despite the singular subject (it) is that it is in the rare unchanging form known as the “subjunctive” (see 118. Problems with Conditional “if”, #6).

A less formal synonym of SUFFICE is DO, used without an object. It typically needs to accompany a “modal” verb like will, should, can, may, might or could: (see 213. Special Uses of “Do” 2, #1). To replace suffices in (g), for example, we could say will do. The verb MEET can express sufficiency too, but only with a suitable object, e.g. meet a/the need and meet expectations. Informally, one can also say come up to expectation (uncountable without -s).