Timeline for Why is it "make sure that" (no 'it') but "make it so" (with 'it')?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
5 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Sep 29, 2012 at 3:35 | comment | added | Marthaª | Actually, I would bet even money that my boss would be fully capable of saying "ensure it that". | |
| Sep 28, 2012 at 21:33 | comment | added | Merk | But make isn't on its own, it's followed by an adjective + that clause, just like in the other kind of case. Reducing the OP's question to a question of transitivity is question-begging unless you can coherently explain your principle for attributing transitivity. The ultimate problem is that transitivity is too coarse a distinction to explain the grammar of verbs that can take multiple complements. | |
| Sep 28, 2012 at 21:29 | comment | added | Barrie England | It's because make on its own, as in your example, is transitive. | |
| Sep 28, 2012 at 20:58 | comment | added | Merk | If so, why must one say "Make it obvious that I know the truth" instead of "Make obvious that I know the truth"? If there's a difference in transitivity between this and the "Make sure" cases I'd like to know. See my answer below. | |
| Sep 28, 2012 at 20:15 | history | answered | Barrie England | CC BY-SA 3.0 |