Theoretical grammar of english

Sentence - the basic unit of communication grammatically organized and expressing a complete thought.
Members of the Sentence:
2 groups:
•Prime members (subject, predicate)
• Secondary members
Subject - what is being discussed in a sentence. The theme of the S.
It's gr-ly independent and it determines the Sg/Pl form of the predicate, it can also determine theperson.
Structurally it can be expressed by Words, Word groups, a predicative construction, a clause.
Morphologically — by a noun, pronoun, a non-finite form.
Ss where the subj is expressed by a notional verb are called personal. But very often the subj can be expressed by "it", sometimes it's impersonal and has no lex meaning of its own.
Sentences with IT:
1.Denote climatic predications: e/g It's warm/ cold/ chilling/ fucking cold. ...whatsoever!
2.Denote time: e/g it's late, it's 5 o'clock, it's time to wrap up the exam! =))
3. Distance: e/g It's 10 miles to the town
4. Qualities of situations: e/g it's noisy here
5. Attitude to the situation: e/g it's impossible to bear it
Ss where IT serves as a formal element: e/g It was announced that. It's no use...
Many grammarians say that "IT" in such Ss is a replacement of a notional subject.
Anticipatory object (предваряющее IT):
The subj proper is expressed by a verbal or a clause. In such Ss the notional Subj is the postponed subj (удаленное).
These Grammarians argue that Ss with "anticipatory" IT can be transferred into Ss with the regular w-order: e/g It's no use going there — Going there is no use.
Other Gr-s don't share this point of view
1. There's no reason why a S should have 2 heterogeneous subjects.
2. In some cases "structures beginning with IT" aren't interchangeable. : e/g it's time to begin
Theoretically speaking the change in the form is possible but the resultant Ss don't sound
natural.
Gr-s find it difficult to define the status of "it" in the Sentence.
e/g Smirnitsky thinks that it's a subj while the rest of the Sent forms a predicate
Krylova, Gordon - the verbals used in Ss beginning with IT are objects. And if we deal w/a clause, it's an object clause.