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In the first sentence, we move the infinitive to the end of the sentence and place a preparatory object after the verb. But when we use a gerund, we keep it after the verb as in the second sentence . I was wondering about the reason for it. Could you please explain to me?

1-I find it hard to live in a city.

2-I find living in a city stressful.

John Lawler
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d.alex
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    There are plenty of examples where an it refers to a later gerund-participial clause: She also found it stressful working with teenagers / Adults with hearing loss also find it difficult getting jobs / Ms Ardern did say she found it tricky dealing with criticism that could be construed as sexist. – DW256 Aug 24 '23 at 00:13

1 Answers1

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It is better to take them in reverse order.

The verb to find requires a direct object/complement.

2-I find living in a city stressful.

living is a gerund and the object of "find"

1-I find it hard to live in a city.

it is a pronoun and the object of "find".

If you write

I find hard to live in a city.

then there is no noun/noun phrase or clause that can be an object. English therefore inserts a dummy "it".

If you write

I find that it is hard to live in the city.

then {that it is hard to live in the city} becomes a noun clause (a content clause) and the complement of "find", but "it" remains the dummy "it"

Greybeard
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