{"id":"SYN-011","name":"Remove empty openings","domain":"syntax","layer":"sentence","strength":"heuristic","human_logic":"IF THERE IS/IT IS delays a concrete subject without serving information structure, THEN make the concrete subject the grammatical subject ELSE retain.","when":{"all":[{"path":"sentence.opening","operator":"in","value":["there_is","it_is"]},{"path":"sentence.expletive_has_discourse_function","operator":"eq","value":false}]},"then":[{"action":"promote","target":"sentence.logical_subject","to":"grammatical_subject"}],"else":[{"action":"retain","target":"current_text","reason":"No triggering condition is present."}],"unless":[],"because":"A direct subject lets the sentence reach its point sooner.","diagnostics":[],"examples":{},"source_ids":["BK-001","BK-013"],"laka":{"smallest_sufficient_intervention":true,"primary_axes":["scope","depth","magnitude","reversibility"]},"requires_facts":["sentence.opening","sentence.expletive_has_discourse_function"],"tests":[],"sources":[{"id":"BK-001","title":"The Elements of Style","creator":"William Strunk Jr.; E. B. White","domain":"grammar_style","type":"Book","note":"Conciseness, conventional usage, and composition principles.","url":null},{"id":"BK-013","title":"On Writing Well","creator":"William Zinsser","domain":"nonfiction_style","type":"Book","note":"Clarity, simplicity, voice, and nonfiction craft.","url":null}],"defined_in":{"file":"09-syntax-and-sentence-rules.json","title":"Syntax and Sentence Construction Rules","slug":"syntax-and-sentence-rules"}}