Question about referents for "it"

[vdhamo]

Can "it" ever modify a full clause? For example, "It is possible that he will fail the test." Does "it" have no referent because it's the subject of an impersonal verb, or does "it" refer to the full clause "that he will fail the test." And if "it" can modify a full clause, isn't that a disturbing precedent?

Thanks for your help!

[RonPurewal]

https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... tml#p49622

DO NOT try to assign an antecedent to "it" in these structures. if you do, then there could be a pernicious effect on your evaluation of ALL other pronouns (as you seem to realize already).

just know these structures as "special cases" (idioms, perhaps).

[vdhamo]

Thanks, Ron! I was confused because I saw a thread on beatthegmat, where one of the experts wrote this: "In some SCs, 'it' will be an EXPLETIVE: a pronoun serving to delay the subject. In these cases, the referent for it will typically be a that-clause, a whether-clause, or an infinitive phrase that appears later."

The notion that a clause could be a referent for 'it' seemed problematic to me.

[RonPurewal]

huh. in all my years of reading, writing, and editing, i've never seen "expletive" used to mean anything other than "swear/curse word". but, then again, i know very few grammar terms.

in any case... yeah, don't bother assigning those "it"s. just know that those structures (a) exist and (b) are not wrong.