Preparatory It: I Find It Difficult to…

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Preparatory It: I Find It Difficult to…

By the end: I can use preparatory it to position longer complements naturally while distinguishing it from a pronoun referring to an object.

Created by , British English teacher.

I’m studying:

Try the activities, then check your answers.

Choose a short recording.

Before you start

Compare I find the manual useful with I find it useful to keep a short checklist. What does it refer to in the second sentence?

Useful background: Basic it/there; infinitives, that-clauses and adjectives.

Prepare for a longer complement

Some verbs allow object it followed by a complement, with an infinitive or clause expressing the fuller content later. In these examples it does not name a previously mentioned physical object.

I find it useful to keep a checklist.

We consider it important to confirm the date.

Denis and the blonde woman keep a useful checklist beside three items they are preparing: a notebook, small parcel and pen case. Denis ticks the list while she compares the objects carefully. The action of keeping a checklist is evaluated as useful.
I find it useful to keep a checklist.The infinitive supplies what is judged useful.

Use the later clause to supply the content

A finite that-clause can supply the content in suitable constructions. Check the main verb’s pattern and the complement carefully; keep the person whose judgement it is explicit.

I find it surprising that nobody asked a question.

The new layout makes it easier to compare the two versions.

A complete later clause supplies the surprising content

Judging person: IPreparatory structure: find it surprisingContent: that nobody asked a question
Complete sentenceI find it surprising that nobody asked a question.

The later clause has its own subject, nobody, and finite verb, asked.

It prepares for the whole proposition, not a previously named question. The speaker evaluates the absence of questions; this sentence does not report that somebody asked one.

Distinguish preparatory from referring it

Referring it points back to a particular thing. Preparatory it anticipates the later content. Both can occur in the same discussion, but replacing one with the other can change the structure and message.

I read the guide and found it useful.

I found it useful to read the guide before the meeting.

The blonde woman reads an instruction manual about a compact camera as Denis points to a relevant picture on the manual. The manual itself is the useful named object. Show attentive understanding, no readable wording.
I find the manual useful.The manual is a named object being evaluated.

Guided practice

Say or write your answer first. Compare the meaning and form; the model is one possible answer.

1. Recast Keeping a short checklist is useful to me with I find it.

Compare a model and explanation

I find it useful to keep a short checklist.

Preparatory it allows the longer infinitive later.

2. Recast We think confirming the date is important with consider it.

Compare a model and explanation

We consider it important to confirm the date.

The group’s judgement is retained.

3. Complete a finite-clause pattern: I find it surprising ___ nobody asked a question.

Compare a model and explanation

that

The that-clause supplies the content of the surprise.

4. Explain it in I read the guide and found it useful.

Compare a model and explanation

It refers to the guide.

This is ordinary object reference, not an anticipatory placeholder for a later clause.

5. Explain it in I found it useful to read the guide first.

Compare a model and explanation

It prepares for the activity expressed by to read the guide first.

The evaluation concerns the activity in this construction.

6. Repair the target pattern: The chart makes easier to compare the figures.

Compare a model and explanation

The chart makes it easier to compare the figures.

This make + complement pattern uses preparatory it.

7. Read the editorial note. Write one sentence with a referring it and one with a preparatory it.

Compare a model and explanation

Noor read the checklist and found it useful. She found it useful to compare the examples before editing.

One it points to a document; the other anticipates an activity.

8. Is preparatory it freely inserted after every English verb? Explain using a safe editing principle.

Compare a model and explanation

No. Check the actual verb-complement pattern; do not assume that a construction with find or consider works unchanged with every verb.

Lexical restrictions matter, and a clear full-clause alternative may be preferable.

A short conversation

Listen first if you can, then open the transcript when useful.

Open the conversation transcript

A: Did you find the checklist useful?

B: Yes, I found it useful. I also found it helpful to compare the examples before editing.

A: The new layout should make it easier to see the differences.

B: It does. I find it surprising that the old version separated the examples across several pages.

Listening checks

Listen to each extract or open its transcript. These three questions have their own score.

1. Which distinction is correct?
Read the listening transcript

I read the checklist and found it useful. Then I found it useful to compare the two examples side by side.

2. What is judged important?
Read the listening transcript

We consider it important to confirm the date before printing. The room number has already been checked.

3. What benefit is claimed?
Read the listening transcript

The revised layout makes it easier to compare the diagrams, although it does not change their content.

Mastery quiz

Choose the best answer in each situation. Your score is out of eight.

1. Choose the complete target pattern.
2. In I read the guide and found it useful, what does it do?
3. Which evaluates an activity rather than just a previously named document?
4. Which construction naturally supplies a finite proposition?
5. Which preserves the editorial note?
6. What is the role of it in The diagram makes it easier to follow the process?
7. Which is the safest generalisation?
8. Which preserves whose judgement is involved?

Use it in your own words

Speaking task 1

Use the editorial note to compare a helpful document, a helpful activity and a helpful design change.

Reveal a possible response

Noor found the checklist useful. She found it useful to compare the examples before editing. The new layout makes it easier to do that, although it doesn’t alter the examples themselves.

Success check: Use referring and preparatory it with clear, different functions.

Speaking task 2

Give a practical evaluation of a learning task using find, consider and make.

Reveal a possible response

I find it helpful to say an example aloud. I consider it important to check its meaning as well as its form. A clear context makes it easier to choose between plausible alternatives.

Success check: Make each later complement identify the evaluated activity.

Speaking task 3

Explain two nearly identical sentences to a learner without inventing a physical referent for preparatory it.

Reveal a possible response

In I found it useful, it may refer to a guide already mentioned. In I found it useful to read the guide first, the later infinitive explains the useful activity. The surrounding structure determines the interpretation.

Success check: Use complete examples and explain the role of the later clause.

Take it with you

I can use preparatory it to position longer complements naturally while distinguishing it from a pronoun referring to an object.

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