It always pleased him to think of his father.
It shocked me to see how much weight he’d lost.
It interests him to hear what you’ve been buying.
You can use it with take and a to-infinitive clause to indicate what is used in a particular action or activity, or is needed for it, for example the amount of time or the type of person that is needed.
It takes an hour to get to Northampton.
It takes an exceptional parent to cope with a child like that.
It took a lot of work to put it together.
If there is also an indirect object, this can be placed immediately after the verb.
It took me a year to save up for a new camera.
If the indirect object is expressed by a prepositional phrase, usually beginning with for, it is placed after the direct object.
It took some time for him to realize what was required.
It takes a lot more time for an adult to pick up a language than for a child.
Cost can be used in similar structures when talking about the amount of something, usually money, that is used in an activity.
It costs about £150 a week to keep someone in prison.
With find and think, you can use it as the object, followed by an adjective, and either a to-infinitive or a that-clause.
He found it hard to make friends.
He thought it right to resign immediately.
other ways of talking about actions
9.41 If you want to focus on a clause that starts with a participle or a to-infinitive, you can use this clause as the subject of the main clause, instead of it. For example, instead of saying It’s fun working for him you can say Working for him is fun.
Measuring the water correctly is most important.
In formal English, to-infinitive clauses are sometimes used.
To sell your story to the papers is a risky strategy.
Commenting on a fact that you are about to mention
9.42 When you want to comment on a fact, event, or situation, you can use it followed by a linking verb, an adjective or a noun phrase, and a that-clause giving the fact.
It is strange that it hasn’t been noticed before.
It’s a shame he didn’t come.
From the photographs it seems clear my mother was no beauty.
Here is a list of adjectives used in this structure:
amazing
apparent
appropriate
awful
bad
clear
doubtful
essential
evident
extraordinary
fair
funny
good
important
inevitable
interesting
likely
lucky
natural
obvious
odd
plain
possible
probable
queer
sad
shocking
strange
surprising
true
unbelievable
unlikely
wonderful
Here is a list of nouns used in this structure:
disgrace
marvel
nuisance
pity
shame
surprise
wonder
9.43 After adjectives like funny, odd, and strange, a clause beginning with how is sometimes used instead of a that-clause, with the same meaning.
It’s funny how they don’t get on.
It’s strange how life turns out.
It is astonishing how he has changed.
What-clauses can be used after similar adjectives when you want to comment on something that is the object of an action.
It’s surprising what you can dig up.
It’s amazing what some of them would do for a little publicity.
Why-clauses can be used after adjectives such as obvious and clear when you want to comment on how clear the reason for something is.
Looking back on these cases, it is clear why the unions distrust the law.
Whether-clauses can be used after adjectives such as doubtful and irrelevant when you want to comment on something that may or may not be true.
It is doubtful whether supply could ever have kept up with consumption.
other verbs
9.44 If you want to say what someone thinks about a fact, you can use it followed by a verb such as please or surprise. The verb is followed by a noun phrase and a that-clause.
It won’t surprise you that I stuck it in my pocket.
It bothered her that Alice wasn’t interested in going out.
Here is a list of verbs that can be used in this way:
amaze
amuse
annoy
appal
astonish
astound
bewilder
bother
delight
disgust
distress
grieve
horrify
interest
please
shock
surprise
upset
worry
passive of reporting verbs
9.45 If you want to say what is said, thought, or discovered by a group of people, you can use it as the subject of the passive form of a reporting verb, followed by a that-clause.
It was agreed that the plan should be kept secret.
It was felt that there had been some dishonest behaviour.
It was found that no cases of hypothermia had been recorded.
For a list of verbs that can be used in this way, see paragraph 7.69.
Introducing something new: there as subject
saying that something exists: There are four people in my family
9.46 When you want to say that something exists, or when you want to mention the presence of something, you can use there followed by be and a noun phrase.
There has very little meaning in the structures that are being explained here. For example, the sentence There is a good reason for this just means A good reason for this exists.