[Grammar] it or there?

[shuei]

Dear teachers,
I am a junior high school student in Osaka, Japan.

"I want to visit New York." "That's good. Shall we visit it this summer?"

Can I say "visit there" instead of "visit it" in the latter sentence?

Thank you for your help in advance.

 

[Raymott]

"go there" would be more common than either "visit it" or "visit there". Neither of your suggestions is wrong. They just don't sound natural. "Visit" has already been used in the first person's statement. It's not necessary to repeat it.

 

[shuei]

Thank you very much for your answer!
I understand what you mean.

I am sorry that is not a proper example.
I want to know if 'visit there' is correct or not.

'There' should include a preposition such as 'in', 'to' and so on.
So I can't say 'visit there', I think.

 

[Raymott]

Thank you very much for your answer!
I understand what you mean.

I am sorry that is not a proper example.
I want to know if 'visit there' is correct or not.

'There' should include a preposition such as 'in', 'to' and so on.
So I can't say 'visit there', I think.

A: "I want to go to New York"; B: "OK, I suppose we could visit there next month"
Yes, you can say that, but all I can do is repeat that most natives wouldn't.

A: "I'm going to New York next week."
B: "Oh, I was/went there last month." - Normal.
B: "Oh, I visited New York last month." - Normal.
B: "Oh, I visited there last month." - Not natural, but you would certainly be understood.
B: "Oh, I visited it last month." - Not possible.

 

[Barb_D]

Before others join the thread and question "I visited it last month" as being not possible, please note that it doesn't work in this context. There is nothing inherently wrong with this sequence of words if "it" refers to, for example, a musuem. It just doesn't work for New York City.

 

[Barb_D]

'There' should include a preposition such as 'in', 'to' and so on.

That's not true.

We can have a lot of fun there.
He's seeing so many amazing things there.
Let's go there next summer.

 

[CarloSsS]

Before others join the thread and question "I visited it last month" as being not possible, please note that it doesn't work in this context. There is nothing inherently wrong with this sequence of words if "it" refers to, for example, a musuem. It just doesn't work for New York City.

May I ask why it doesn't work with New York? Is it only like this with New York? Or does it apply to any proper noun such as 'California', 'Yellowstone', 'North Atlantic' etc.?

 

[Barb_D]

In my opinion, "it" doesn't work for any location larger than a building, or perhaps a small park. It's not suitable for an entire city, a large portion of an ocean, a large national park, etc.

 

[SoothingDave]

In my opinion, "it" doesn't work for any location larger than a building, or perhaps a small park. It's not suitable for an entire city, a large portion of an ocean, a large national park, etc.

I agree. A museum or a park is an "it." A city is to big to be an "it."

 

[Raymott]

I agree. A museum or a park is an "it." A city is to big to be an "it."

At the risk of complicating this even further, I need to say that a city can be "it", but not in the context of the original question.
So, the following are OK:
"I love New York. It's a great city."
"I don't know much about Tegucigalpa. What sort of city is it?"

However, these are all issues of style. When I said "Not possible" above, I meant "Not possible if you want to be taken as a native-level speaker."

 

[Barb_D]

In an interesting coincidence, last night I was emailing back and forth with a colleague who is in Chicago and I wrote "It's a great city" and paused to think why it was okay in that sentence, but not "I'd like to visit it." I didn't have a good answer, so I just hit "send" and carried on with my night.

 

[Raymott]

In an interesting coincidence, last night I was emailing back and forth with a colleague who is in Chicago and I wrote "It's a great city" and paused to think why it was okay in that sentence, but not "I'd like to visit it." I didn't have a good answer, so I just hit "send" and carried on with my night.

I worked out that in these sentences, 'it' refers primarily to 'city', rather than "New York" or "Chicago", etc.
Beyond that, I have no further illuminating opinions.

 

[BobSmith]

Have you been to NYC? I saw it last year. - "It" sounds very strange here.

Have you been to the Grand Canyon? I saw it last year. - "It" sounds ok here. Am I wrong?

 

[shuei]

That's not true.

We can have a lot of fun there.
He's seeing so many amazing things there.
Let's go there next summer.

Thank you for your answer!

In the first sentence, 'there' means, for example, "in New York."
The last 'there' is like "to the museum".

It seems to me that 'there' consists of a proposition (in, to) and a noun (New York, the museum).