it is allowed

[Sunshine]

Hello everybody,

I know that you can say "you are / he is allowed to do sth.", but can you also say "it is allowed to do sth." It sounds strange to me.

Thanks for your help!

[svartnik]

Hello everybody,

I know that you can say "you are / he is allowed to do sth.", but can you also say "it is allowed to do sth." It sounds strange to me.

Thanks for your help!

It is allowed to do sg is okay.
To do sg is allowed = It (=expletive it) is allowed to do sg.

[Raymott]

Hello everybody,

I know that you can say "you are / he is allowed to do sth.", but can you also say "it is allowed to do sth." It sounds strange to me.

Thanks for your help!

It sounds strange to me too.
"It is allowed" is alright, but usually after the subject is given.
A: Is smoking allowed here?
B: Yes, it is allowed.

But "Is it allowed to smoke here?" or "It is allowed to smoke here" sounds wrong to my ears.
I note however that this construction has been used a lot on the web, often by non-native speakers.

[svartnik]

"it is not allowed to - NYTimes.com Search >10k hits

[MR SOLIMAN]

Hello everybody,

I know that you can say "you are / he is allowed to do sth.", but can you also say "it is allowed to do sth." It sounds strange to me.

Thanks for your help!

It is normal in English to refer to the generally accepted behaviour by saying (It is permitted to do....or it is allowed to ..or it is not forbidden to do.....etc. Mr soliman....an academic member

[Coronet Hall]

Sure it is possible to say that. We must understand that using the pronoun IT may limit the application, or be confusing as how a thing is allowed to do something but it is structurally correct.