虛主詞 it (用法一 ~ 四)

虛主詞 it (用法 一)：

seem, happen, chance等之用法

It seems/appears/happens/chances that S. V.

→ S seems/appears/happens/chances to V.

說明：要說到『似乎、好像、碰巧』等意思時，英文有兩種說法，一是以It為虛主詞，再用that子句寫出要說的事。另一種是以that子句的主詞帶頭，(不再用虛主詞it)，子句的動詞以不定詞形式接在seem，……之後。

例句：

1.      It seems that he is angry. (好像他生氣了。)

→ He seems to be angry.

2.      It seemed that he didn’t like her. (好像他不喜歡她。)

→ He didn’t seem to like her.

seem……之後可接不定詞之簡單式(表與seem相同之時間)，接進行式(表正在進行)，或接完成式(表示比seem更早之動作)

例句：

1.      It seems that he was sick.

→ He seems to have been sick.

2.      It seems that he has been sick.

→ He seems to have been sick

3.      It seemed that they were enjoying themselvws.

(用法 二)： 

It is S. C.  ＋ Ving                   ：It is no use his going there now.

＋ (for Sb) to V.      ：It is useless (for him) to go there now.

＋ that S. V.            ：It is useless that he goes there now.

                  (他現在去那裡沒有用)

說明：以It做虛主詞以代替後面的不定詞、子句或動名詞的用法。

例句：

1.      That women are poor drivers is open to question.

→ It is open to question that women are poor drivers.

(女人是較差的駕駛這句話有待商確。)

(用法 三)：

It will be (long) before S. V. 要很久才

It won’t be (long) before S. V. 不久將 ……

說明：時態可用過去式或未來式。long之處可換成其他時間。注意連接詞用before，解釋或『……才……』或『……就……』。

例句：

1.      It will be long before we see each other again. (我們要很久才能再見面)

2.      It won’t be long before we see each other again. (我們不久就能再見面)

(用法 四)：

It is/was …… that …… .

說明：要加強句中某一部分時，可將此部分前移於第一空格，其餘置於第二空格，是為分裂句 (cleft sentence)。

例句：

1.      I love you. (我愛你)

→ It is I that love you. (愛你的是我)

或→ It is you that I love. (我愛的是你)

2.      Several students got hurt while crossing th street yesterday.

(昨天有數位學生在過馬路時受了傷)

→ It was several students that got hurt ……

→ It was while crossing the street that several students got hurt yesterday.

→ It was yesterday that several students ……