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Subject:Re: It is . . . . . From:Bill Burns <WBURNS -at- VAX -dot- MICRON -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 10 Aug 1995 14:26:03 MDT
Scott writes:
>I've always wondered what the antecedent is in the sentence,
> "It's raining."
>The sentence makes perfect sense, everyone knows what it means,
>and I can't think of another way to say the same thing in half
>as many syllables. Is this use of "it" bad style or just an
>exception?
Someone noted yesterday the correct linguistic term for this type of
word--expletive.
This clause has the same basic structure as "It is imperative that..."
(barring, of course, the subordinate clause). Since English requires a
subject of some kind (even a nonexistent entity) and a predicate, the pronoun
(or, if plural, "there") gets jammed in as a place holder. Some languages
don't require a stated subject in such cases. Even others have different
clauses to communicate the same idea. I believe that both French and German
have similarly idiomatic translations. Can anybody cite the French and German
idioms for this idea?
Bill Burns *
Assm. Technical Writer/Editor * LIBERTY, n. One of imagination's most
Micron Technology, Inc. * precious possessions.
Boise, ID *
WBURNS -at- VAX -dot- MICRON -dot- COM * Ambrose Bierce
