it in this sentence

Question

1. It is something of a truism that to put off making a decision is itself a decision.
2. That to put off making a decision is itself a decision is something of a truism.

Q) Does "it" in #1 refer to "that to put off making a decision is itself a decision" just like in #2?

GPY · Accepted Answer

It's probably better to recognise "It is ... that ...", and similar phrasings, as set patterns for sentence construction, rather than worrying too much about assigning a literal meaning to "it". In a sense, "it" does refer to "that to put off making a decision is itself a decision", but in another sense it doesn't since direct substitution creates a nonsense. Really, "it" is just part of a device for moving "something of a truism" to the start of the sentence, both to balance the emphasis and to avoid the awkwardness of #2. This kind of "it" is sometimes called "anticipatory it" since it anticipates a later phrase (in this case "that to put off making a decision is itself a decision"). There are more examples at http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/Post-positive-Adjective.htm . In that article they call "it" a "stand-in for the postponed subject", which seems a good description.

it in this sentence

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