The book is too difficult for me to read it -- why is this wrong?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hello,

It is too difficult for me to read the book. → I know it’s an OK sentence.

The book is too difficult for me to read it. → I don’t know why it is wrong. Could you explain why the last “it” should be deleted?

Thank you in advance,
sweetpumpkin

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I don’t think that there is a locigal explantion for why the ‘it’ in the second sentence is redundantant. In the first sentence ‘it’ refers to the fact that reading the book is too difficult, so ‘it’ is the subject in this sentence. In the second sentence there is no need for the word ‘it’ because the sentence already starts with the subject ‘it’.

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In the second sentence, it is referring to the book, so you’re saying:
“The book is too difficult for me to read the book.”
As @Torsten said it’s a bit redundant. I’m not sure of the reason, but perhaps “book” is both the subject and the object here. I leave that to experts familiar with the grammar rules.

The first sentence is OK, but I’m not sure this is what is meant. Note that “It” does not refer to the book, but to some condition. You could say this because the book is too heavy or it’s in a library across town. Maybe it has print that’s too small.
You could say this because the book itself is too advanced for your reading level, but in this case, I think the second sentence, corrected, is much clearer.
“The book is too difficult for me to read.”

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Here it goes:

  1. The book is too difficult for me to read it. (incorrect)
  2. There is unnecessary redundancy of the noun. (reason)
  3. The book is too difficult for me to read it - here, the second ‘it’ stands for the book. (fact)
  4. Look at this: The book is too difficult for me to read the book. (explanation)
  5. The book is too difficult for me to read. (solution)

But when you turn it into a complex sentence, it becomes: The book is so difficult that I cannot read it. (correct)

And, in the first sentence, the pronoun ‘It’ is functioning as a dummy subject.
So, ‘It is too difficult for me to read the book.’ or ‘It is too difficult for me to read it (the book).’ will be acceptable.

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The reason the second sentence is incorrect is because the word “it” is unnecessary. When you use a structure like “too difficult for me to read,” the object (in this case, “the book”) is already implied, so adding “it” becomes redundant. The first sentence works because the subject and object are clearly separated, while in the second, “the book” and “it” refer to the same thing. So, to make it correct, just remove the “it” at the end: “The book is too difficult for me to read.”

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