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Which one of the following is correct and why?

It'll be wonderful to see you again.
It'll be wonderful seeing you again.

Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
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Aslan986
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  • Welcome, Aslan! I'm pretty sure "to see" is grammatical, but I don't know why. Nevertheless, I share with you this question. +1 –  Mar 17 '13 at 12:03

1 Answers1

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Both are correct. Either the gerund clause or the infinitive clause can act syntactically as a [NominalPhrase] in this construction.

The construction it + BE + [AdjectivalPhrase] + [NominalPhrase] is a rearrangement of the ordinary sentence [NominalPhrase] + BE + [AdjectivalPhrase] which focuses on the [AdjectivalPhrase].

To see you again'll be wonderful ... > ... It'll be wonderful to see you again.
Seeing you again'll be wonderful ... > ... It'll be wonderful seeing you again.

The pronoun it refers to the longish [NominalPhrase], and it's put at the head of the sentence so you can give the [AdjectivalPhrase] wonderful a more focal position, before [NominalPhrase] which is tacked on at the end to clarify what it is.

ADDED:
Note that when an ordinary noun phrase rather than a clause is employed as the [NominalPhrase], it must be separated from what goes before with a comma or dash:

Paris in the spring will be wonderful ... > ... It'll be wonderful, Paris in the spring.

StoneyB on hiatus
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