English Language Learners Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for speakers of other languages learning English. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
- Paul and Jane moved to Paris two years ago.
- It is...
If the starting words were "it has" I could have written "It has been two years since...". But the auxiliary "be" is used instead and I am not allowed to change it. I don't have a single idea what the solution might be.
"It is two years since Paul and Jane moved to Paris." is still correct, even though less common.
For example, have a look at this quote by Sally Brampton (which is the best example Google spewed out at a quick glance — I'm sure there are many more to find)
It is two years since I emerged from depression and I no longer want myself dead.
I want myself alive.
You might also want to have a look at English Grammar in Use : a reference and practice book for intermediate students of English by Raymond Murphy.
As Sprottenwels says in their answer (emphasis mine):
"It is two years since Paul and Jane moved to Paris." is still correct, even though less common.
You could make this more common by inserting the word now:
It is now two years since Paul and Jane moved to Paris
AndyT's variation on Sprottenwels' answer is probably the most natural sounding, but I'll offer this alternative (which is similar to a comment by Jim)
It is Paris to which Paul and Jane moved two years ago
This variant emphasises Paris (i.e. where they moved to) rather than the two years (i.e. when they moved), which might be desirable depending on the context. However, it's a slightly old-fashioned construction. The only similar quote I could find was from Jean Paul Sartre in his essay "What is Literature":
It is Paris to which writers from the provinces, if they are well-off, come to practise regionalism
It is the case that Paul and Jane moved to Paris two years ago.
There are many ways in which English speakers, and even writers, extend sentences without materially altering the meaning. Any assertion may be prefaced with one of these:
In using the latter, the speaker probably feels that the added phrase lends a note of authority or formality. It is often used when alternatives to the assertion have been suggested or implied.
Just to demonstrate that there are several ways to solve this problem, here's another one in idiomatic English.
It is the third year that Paul and Jane have spent living in Paris.
You can't change the verb, but you still have a ton of flexibility since the subject of the sentence hasn't been nailed down for you.
Just wondering, can't you use this?
It is two years ago when Paul and Jane moved to Paris.
Should "was" be used after "It"?
