Grammatical pattern: it + VERB + somebody + that + CLAUSE

This pattern beginning with the word “it” allows English speakers to have, as the grammatical subject of their sentence, a very simple and compact element –“it”-- and to postpone till later in the sentence a longer, possibly complex “real” subject of the sentence expressed by a that-CLAUSE.  In other words, the “real” subject of the verb “annoys” in the sentence above is “that she never says thank you.”  It is the fact that “she” never says thank you that annoys this person. The whole sentence with the clause in the subject position would be:  “That she never says thank you annoys me.”  This type of sentence beginning with a that-CLAUSE can seem unbalanced for English speakers—the subject can feel too long in comparison with the rest of the sentence (“annoys me”).  Using the word “it” as a grammatical placeholder allows speakers to put the clause in a position in the sentence that feels more appropriate for a relatively long element.

Beginning a sentence with a that-CLAUSE does, of course, occur, but it occurs more commonly in formal speaking and writing, and in sentences where the direct object (or other element following the verb) is much longer than in the above example.  Consider this sentence, for instance: “That she never says thank you annoys her much older sister, who has learned to be very polite herself.”  This is a grammatically comfortable, if somewhat formal, sentence for English speakers.  If “it” were placed at the beginning of this sentence, the true subject (that which actually causes the annoying) would become less intelligible postponed till the end.

(Acceptable?) It annoys her much older sister, who has learned to be very polite herself, that she never says thank you.

The postponed subject begins to lose its connection with the verb when it is so distant from it.  If the direct object is relatively long, the standard order of “real” subject (i.e., that-CLAUSE) plus verb may be preferable to this pattern using “it.”

Verbs that follow the pattern  [it + VERB + somebody + that + CLAUSE]

amaze, anger, annoy, bother, bug, concern, confuse, delight, disgust, distress, disturb, embarrass, excite, frighten, frustrate, hit, humiliate, hurt, irk, irritate, perplex, please, puzzle, scare, shock, strike, stun, surprise, terrify, thrill, trouble, unsettle, vex, worry

Additional examples of the pattern  [it + VERB + somebody + that + CLAUSE]

It frightened her that she could lose all that she had worked for.

It pleased the students that the deadline was extended till the following Tuesday.

It stunned them that such a thing could have happened in their town.

It struck me that I had never encountered anyone like her before.

It puzzled him that the door was unlocked when he came home.