[Grammar] defining happiness is not as simple as it might seem

Thread starter ambitious-girl
Start date Jul 17, 2017

ambitious-girl

Senior Member

Jul 17, 2017

#1

Is the bold 'it' used as preparatory it?

Defining happiness is not as simple as it might seem.

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Rover_KE

Moderator

Staff member

Jul 17, 2017

#2

No - it's a pronoun.

'Defining happiness is not as simple as [defining happiness] might seem.'

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Tdol

Editor, UsingEnglish.com

Staff member

Jul 18, 2017

#3

It's anaphoric (pointing backwards).

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