Mark Brader wrote:
> "Skitt" answers a question:

>>>> Lately I've heard constructions of the following form:
>>>>
>>>> "The pitcher had water in...."
>>>>
>>>> My intuition would be to state that as:
>>>>
>>>> "The pitcher had water in it...."
>
>> Yours is a good intuition.
>
>>>> Is the "it" really unnecessary?
>
>> Yes.
>
> This seems contradictory.
>
> If I'm saying this, I find the "it" necessary. But there are many
> similar constructs where the analogous word isn't necessary ("a woman
> with a nice dress on"), so I don't think it's surprising that some
> people would prefer not to use it here.

Omigosh -- I misread the "unnecessary" as "necessary". My apologies. I
must have experienced a senior moment. In the pitcher sentence, the "it" is
necessary.
--
Skitt
getting old