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I need to know which of these options is the correct one and why:

  • The Spanish cooking makes it easy to have a nice meal.

  • The Spanish cooking makes easy to have a nice meal.

I don't know if I need the pronoun "it" or not. By the way, is "a nice meal" correct, or should I use another adjective, such as "good"?

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Neither sentence is correct.

Spanish cooking makes it easy to have a nice meal. [This is grammatical and natural]
Spanish cooking makes having a nice meal easy. [This is grammatical and natural]

You can use any adjective that suits your fancy instead of the tepid nice.

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  • Is it correct to say that the definite article is never used with gerunds?
    – avpaderno
    Commented May 23, 2013 at 17:00
  • @kiamlaluno I cannot think of a case when the definite article is used with a gerund, unlike in many (most?) other languages. I don't want to say that's a firm rule, though.
    – Daniel
    Commented May 23, 2013 at 17:28
  • @kiamlaluno Actually, I take that back. You could say, "The solving of the puzzle was difficult."
    – Daniel
    Commented May 23, 2013 at 17:31
  • @kiamlaluno The definite article may be used when a specific instance or type of VERBing is referred to: "The shooting of John Kennedy". When an article is employed, the direct object of VERB must be expressed as a phrase headed by of.
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Commented May 23, 2013 at 18:30
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Out of the OP's choices, the first one is correct. Why? Think of "makes it easy" as a phrasal verb — they just go together. The "it" here is not a pronoun. It's just part of the phrasal verb. Sometimes, however, we use "it" in other, weird ways. Read this little article I found for more information.

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