Is it possible to say ...

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noahna - 18 May 2009 21:41 GMT

I need your help.

Here is a sentence:
Nobody thought it possible to eat 53 hotdogs in 12 minutes.

Is the next sentence acceptable meaning the same as the one above?
Nobody thought of it as possible to eat 53 hotdogs in 12 minutes.

(My question is whether you can use 'formal object *it*' in the phrase
'think of A as B')

Thank you for your cooperation in advance.

noahna

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Ian Jackson - 18 May 2009 22:25 GMT

In message
<ed6ac5c3-5dd8-4965-8547-3f2e0a6ab624@u9g2000pre.googlegroups.com>,
noahna <noah7110kh@yahoo.com> writes

>I need your help.
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
>Thank you for your cooperation in advance.

The second sentence is maybe a slightly 'strange' way to say it, but I
don't think it is actually wrong (or 'unacceptable').

If you want to use this form of words, it might be better to include
'being'.
"Nobody thought of it as being possible to eat 53 hotdogs in 12
minutes."

Even in the first sentence, could include the 'was'.
"Nobody thought it was possible to eat 53 hotdogs in 12 minutes."

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Ian

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009

Is it possible to say ...