Verbs used with introductory ‘It’

1. The Passive verb is followed by a ‘that-clause’.

e.g. Eventually it was agreed that the present laws would continue to apply in the same areas for two years.

It was pointed out that several different solutions fitted the known data.

be acknowledged	be claimed	be proposed
be agreed	be confirmed	be reported
be alleged	be disclosed	be said
be announced	be emphasized	be shown
be argued	be pointed out	be suggested

e.g. It is expected that agreement will be reached by that date.

They became concerned when it was discovered that more than nine thousand ballot papers had been forged.

be accepted	be established	be known
be believed	be estimated	be learned
be calculated	be expected	be noticed
be considered	be feared	be presumed
be decided	be felt	be seen
be determined	be found	be suspected
be discovered	be hoped	be thought

2. The Passive verb is followed by a iwh-clause' indicating that something is known or becomes known

e.g. It has never been established whether either of the men survived. It is not known who was behind the deal.

be decided	be established	be revealed
be determined	be explained	be seen
be disclosed	be known	be shown
be discovered	be learned	be understood

3. The verb is followed by an adjective group and a ‘that-clause’ indicating what a situation is, seems, or becomes. The word that is often omitted.

e.g. It is important that you are honest. It is certain he will be there. I think it’s important that you get to know them beforehand. It looks likely that David has played his last game for the club.

appear	become	look	remain
be	feel	prove	seem

With appear, be, become, remain, and seem the adjective group is sometimes followed by a ‘wh-clause’ instead of a ‘that-clause’. e.g. It is not clear why he is being held.

4. The verb is followed by an adjective group and a ‘to-infmitive’ indicating what an action is, seems, or becomes.

e.g. It would look pretty silly to turn the proposal down. It seemed reasonable to hope that the conflict would soon be over. It is important to use lawyers who are experienced in these matters.

The adjective group is often followed by a prepositional phrase beginning with ‘for’.

e.g. It is becoming difficult for our team to cope. _!Гі і

'О ї

With be, feel, look, and seem, the adjective group is sometimes _c: j followed by an ‘-ing’ clause. .,-s j

e.g. It was nice talking to you.