As a general rule, yo are correct - pronouns need to other nouns/pronouns. However, "it" can also be used as a subject replacement in a sentence that has no natural subject.winnerhere wrote:To Josephine Baker, Paris was her home long before it was fashionable to be an expatriate
Hey guys....the "IT" that I have highlighted in the above sentence - is it ok put an "IT" there , without referring anything before in the sentence.
I am asking this as noonbe has pointed it out as an error
Examples:
It is raining.
It was fashionable to be an expatriate long before last tuesady.
When serving as a subject replacement in such a sentence, the pronoun "it" does not need to refer to anything.
This discussion is an old one, and I hope that whoever started this no longer needs this (i.e. have done the GMAT, got the score they want, and moved on with their lives) but I think I can clarify the modifier error (or lack thereof): time references are exempt from the modifier restriction, and do no need to modify the noun immediately following them, or anything, for that matter. Even though a time reference may look like a modifier (in the sense that it is not a standalone sentence with a subject and a verb), it is NOT a modifier in that respect - it does not need to modify what follows it.
Thus, "Long before it was fashionable to be an expatriate, Josephine Baker...." is ok because the modifying clause is actually a time reference - it answers the question "when?", and thus does not fall under the modifier rules. Josephine Baker can follow such a time reference, because the time reference does not need to modify anything.
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