Page 455 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford

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Note: negative words with no positive equivalent
Some words with negative prefixes have no positive opposite equivalent: for example, somebody can be distressed, but not tressed. Other examples:
dishevilled, disappoint, discard, disclose, disconcert, disfigure, dismiss, dispose, incessant, indelible, uncanny, uncouth, ungainly, unkempt, unnerved, unspeakable, unwieldy, unwitting
For hyphens after co-, ex- etc, see 559.1d.
preparatory it (1): subject It's nice to talk to you
When the subject of a clause is an infinitive expression, this does not nonnally come at the beginning. We usually prefer to start with the 'preparatory subject' it, and to put the infinitive expression later (long or complicated items are often put towards the end of a sentence - see 512). Preparatory it is common before be + adjective/noun.
It's nice to talk to you. (More natural than To talk to you is nice.) It was good ofyou to phone.
It was stupid ofyou to leave the door unlocked.
It's important to book in advance.
It's my ambition to run a three-hour marathon. It was a pleasure to listen to her.
It upsets me to hear people arguing all the time.
It can also be a preparatory subject for for + object + infinitive (see 291). It will suit me best for you to arrive at about tell o'clock.
It's essential for the papers to be ready before Thursday.
It's probable that we'll be late
We also use preparatory it when the subject of a clause is itself a clause. It's probable that we'll be a little late.
It doesn't interest me what YOlt think.
It's surprising how many unhappy marriages there are.
It's exciting when a baby starts talking. It was nice seeing you
It can be a preparatory subject for an -ing fonn. This is usually infonnal. It was nice seeing you. It's crazy her going off like that.
It's worth going to Wales ifyou have the time.
It's no lise trying to explain - I'm not interested.
It surprised me your not remembering my name.
For more information about structures with /lIor/II, see 632. For r/,ere as a preparatory subject with any/no lise, see 587.2.
It takes ... + infinitive
We can use this structure to say how much time is necessary (see 576).
It took me months to get to know her.
How long does it take to get to London from here?
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