I consider it to be the best time of my life.

[PeterValk]

This sentence is being discussed in another forum, for Russian speakers.
The whole text was: "I am a student. I consider it to be the best time of my life."
There are no other references, no context.
There's a discussion going on about the use of "it"
Some say it's correct, but I don't agree with them.
There is no reference for "it", so I proposed to use "this".

I consider this (meaning: this time) to be the best time of my life.

Who's right here? And why?

 

[emsr2d2]

I prefer "it". If I were to use anything else, it would be "that", not "this".

I went to New Zealand ten years ago. I consider it to be the best holiday I've ever been on.
I did a bungee jump while I was there. It was the best experience of my life.
I spent four weeks on a squarerigger in The Hebrides. That was such a great holiday!

 

[PeterValk]

I see what you mean, but still the use of "it" in my example just feels wrong somehow.
I understand what "it" refers to, but the reference here is a fact. (I'm a student)
When using "it" in combination with "the best time" I would expect a reference to a certain time frame, not a fact.
"I have been studying here for four years now. I consider it to be the best time of my life."
Maybe it's more logical for native English speakers to infer that "it" refers to "the time spent being a student" than for non-natives.

Perhaps I'm making things too difficult for myself?

 

[emsr2d2]

So are you saying that you think "it" should only ever refer to a timeframe, not to an event (or indeed to anything that isn't a timeframe)?

 

[MikeNewYork]

This sentence is being discussed in another forum, for Russian speakers.
The whole text was: "I am a student. I consider it to be the best time of my life."
There are no other references, no context.
There's a discussion going on about the use of "it"
Some say it's correct, but I don't agree with them.
There is no reference for "it", so I proposed to use "this".

I consider this (meaning: this time) to be the best time of my life.

Who's right here? And why?

I agree with you. For me, "this" works the best. The person is talking about his/her current life. That would cause me to use "this" over "that" because it is close to that person. My second choice would be "it". That word also works.

I love being a student. This is the best time of my life.
I loved being a student. That was the best time of my life.

I am having such fun in New York City. This is the best trip I have ever taken.
I had so much fun in New York City. That was the best trip I ever took.

 

[PeterValk]

So we have an British opinion (from emsr2d2, who prefers "it") and an American one (from MikeNewYork, who agrees with me)
Could this (or "it") be a cultural thing?

 

[emsr2d2]

I should clarify that I overlooked the use of the present tense in the first post. I gave examples in the past tense using "that". In the present tense, I still prefer "it" but I consider "this" to be perfectly acceptable.

 

[Tdol]

Who's right here? And why?

I'm OK with both versions. To be honest, many native speakers would happily use it without worrying about whether there was a reference or not. Purists would probably go for this, but I can't see that many speakers even pausing to think about the issue.

 

[Raymott]

I'd prefer 'this'. But it would depend on the intonation.
"I consider it to be the best time."
"I consider this to be the best time."
Written, it could go either way.