Sentence Structure: It’s + adjective + to do something (A-Level, Basic)
Dialog: “It’s difficult to be a student”
Examine this dialog between Tom and his mother. Notice the structure “it is” with an adjective and a to-infinitive.
Tom is doing his mathematics homework. He is not happy about it, so he is complaining to his mother, Sara.
Tom: — Why do I have to study math? I prefer to learn history and biology!
Sara: — It’s important to learn all your school subjects well.
Andrea Piacquadio | Pexels
Tom: — But it’s really boring to solve all these math problems.
Sara: — You need to practice because it’s easy to forget what you learn.
Tom: — It’s easy for you to say that. You don’t have to go to school anymore.
Sara: — What do you think? Is it harder for me to work all day or for you to go to school?
Tom: — Okay, I get it… Can you help me with this problem?
Sara: — Sure. It’ll be fun to do it together.
It is + adjective + to-infinitive
In English, the verb must always have a subject. In some cases, you use “it” as a grammatical subject. For example, in
It’s important to study hard.
the subject “it” does not refer to anything. It is there as the grammatical subject only. Notice that you need a to-infinitive (that is, an infinitive with “to”). (See this lesson on infinitives in a new tab.)
Another way to say it is, “To study hard is important.” It is grammatical, but it sounds too formal. Most people say and write, “It’s important to study hard.”
Example sentences using “it is” + adjective + to-infinitive
It’s not easy to learn new words.
It’s very difficult to solve this math problem if you don’t know the formula.
It’s necessary to drink water every day.
It’s dangerous to swim in this lake.
It was exciting to travel to new places when I was young.
It will be fun to play video games with my friends this weekend.
It won’t be difficult for you to learn French because you already speak Spanish.
It + modal verb + be + to-infinitive.
When you say,
It is expensive to live in New York City.
you are sure that the information is true. To express that you think the information is “probably” true, you can use a modal verb (must)
It must be expensive to live in New York City.
Examples using modal verbs
It can be expensive to buy a house.
Will it be possible to finish this project tomorrow?
It should be easy to learn English, but you must practice.
It doesn’t need to be this complicated to solve this problem. You just need to use the right formula.
Max Fischer | Pexels
(For more information, see this lesson on modal verbs in a new tab.)
Practice
Practice 1. Write sentences using “it’s” + adjective + verb. (present simple tense)
Practice 2. Write sentences using “it’s” + adjective + verb (other verb tenses).
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