It is what it is?

December 5, 2008 8:10 AM

I need help with a pronoun issue. In the following sentences, what noun is the word it replacing?

It is difficult to reach you by phone.

It is preposterous to believe the earth is flat.

These are just a couple of examples off the top of my head to try to demonstrate what I'm asking about. I know that the word it is an objective personal pronoun meant to refer to, and/or substitute for, a person or thing, but in the sentences above, where there's not a tangible object, what is it replacing?

If, in the first example, it is referring to the act of reaching someone by phone, and if in the second example it is the belief that the earth is flat, does that mean that it is simply referring to a general sense of being and/or a state of mind? If so, what noun is it replacing?

I hope my question makes sense. I get the feeling that I'm making it more complicated than it needs to be. For some reason, I can't wrap my head around this, and I hope that there's a simple little moment of clarity awaiting me.

posted by amyms to writing & language (11 comments total)

To reach you by phone is difficult.
It is difficult.
"To reach you" is what is being replaced - it is an infinitive functioning as a noun. A gerund ("it is difficult reaching you by phone") can also play the same role.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 8:25 AM on December 5, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Yes, it's less complicated than it sounds. Depending on the context, 'it' is whatever we most previously talked about - most native English speakers intuitively know. Of course, teaching that in ESL-type classes is a more difficult thing to do. Any sentence can be rewritten without the word 'it' in it, so 'it' replaces however you might rephrase the entire sentence. Also, 'it' doesn't always necessarily replace a noun - it's often used for clarity or efficiency of wordsFor example:

"It is difficult to reach you by phone"
could become
"You are difficult to reach by phone" - both are correct.

"It is preposterous to believe the earth is flat"
could become
"The belief that the earth is flat is preposterous"

And so it goes. The answer: 'It' doesn't always or necessarily replace an object, whether tangible or not.
posted by chrisinseoul at 8:28 AM on December 5, 2008

In your examples, 'it' replaces an infinitive phrase (i.e., "to reach you by phone"). Infinitive phrases can function as nouns, which is what is going on in your examples.
posted by jedicus at 8:29 AM on December 5, 2008

I agree with the previous responses, but you might also find the Wikipedia article on dummy pronouns interesting.
posted by sen at 8:31 AM on December 5, 2008

Ahh *light bulb goes on above head*

Thanks everyone!
posted by amyms at 8:43 AM on December 5, 2008

What about "It is time to take out the trash?" What is "it" replacing?
posted by alidarbac at 8:45 AM on December 5, 2008

It is raining.
posted by jozxyqk at 8:55 AM on December 5, 2008

What about "It is time to take out the trash?" What is "it" replacing?

Maybe: "Now is the time to take out the trash," or "The time is now to take out the trash?"
posted by Juffo-Wup at 9:07 AM on December 5, 2008

For those of you who added additional examples of it sentences, be sure to check out jedicus' infinitive phrase link and sen's dummy pronouns link. I think they'll help explain your examples too.
posted by amyms at 9:12 AM on December 5, 2008

"It is raining" is a classic example from a syntax class on dummy pronouns. This really has more to with English verbs, and how many arguments they take. The verb "to be" in this case is conceptually trickier than other verbs, and requires an "it." In a pro-drop language, like Spanish, you can say things like "is raining."

A different example of arguments...the verb "to put" takes three. You must put something somewhere, you can't say "I put the chair" or "I put on the floor."* Verbs taking three arguments look like this:
[argument 1 - subject] + [verb] + [argument 2 - direct object] + [argument 3 - indirect object]

The verb "to be" is complex, and can take different number of arguments, depending on other factors, but in general English wants something in that subject position, before the verb, so you don't end up with "is raining."

*For declarative statements. Commands or interrogatives change the game somewhat.
posted by iamkimiam at 1:27 PM on December 5, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

The "it" in this situation is known more formally as an expletive. Aside from "it", the word "there" is the other expletive in English.

If you say "There is an apple on the table", then "there" is contributing nothing (in the same way as "it" in "It took me 20 minutes to get here").

With "there", it is even easier to prove to yourself that it is referring to nothing, because you can use the locative "there" (the one that is talking about a location) in the same sentence:

"There's an apple on the table over there."
posted by kosmonaut at 4:39 PM on December 5, 2008