A problem with "It"

[AsterixandObelix]

I see one of my American friends wrote this: "It's mostly boys that do it". But according to me, it has to be: "There are mostly boys that do it". So which one is right?
PS: We were talking about boys or girls that like buying with paying later.

[spoon]

I see one of my American friends wrote this: "It's mostly boys that do it". But according to me, it has to be: "There are mostly boys that do it". So which one is right?
PS: We were talking about boys or girls that like buying with paying later.

The first one is O.K. because it's kind of 'cleft' sentence.

As you may know or not, people put what they want to focus in between 'it is' and 'that cluase' as above.

Hope it helps.

Spoon

[sheena55ro]

I see one of my American friends wrote this: "It's mostly boys that do it". But according to me, it has to be: "There are mostly boys that do it". So which one is right?
PS: We were talking about boys or girls that like buying with paying later.

The first sentence is right. You have to know exactly the difference between "it " and "there" followed by "is" :

"It" is used :

-in time expressions : It is 8 o`clock a.m.
- identification :It is he who did it[ or, He is the one who did it]
- with expressions related to distance : It`s five miles away from here
-etc.

"There" followed by "is" and"are" denotes EXISTENCE;

There are 25 pupils in my classroom.
There is a huge building in that town.


Consequently ,"It`s mostly boys that..." comes from :It is explained by the fact that mostly boys do it" or "It`s the fact that mostly boys do it" or " It`s known the fact that..."


"There " functions as a "dummy subject", delaying the real subject until the end of the clause.

"There are mostly boys that do it."-- here" there are" does not denote existence as it should but in the following sentence," There are fabulous wild flowers on that cliff", the expresion "there are" denotes existence.

You`d better say: It`s [known the fact that] mostly boys that do it. - it denotes "identification "of the people`s genus[boys who do it ]and not "existence"
Who does it ? Mostly boys , not girls.

In conclusion see this:It`s I / me who did it.[identification ; not existence]
There is I/me who did it. -does it sound good to you? No, of course not. "There is/are" -used only for "existence"[ not identification]

I hope you understand the issue.

All the best,

[AsterixandObelix]

Thank you a lot! You've helped me out tons of trouble. So, my English is in need of more and more and more training and practicing.
Thanks again