Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <meaning><grammar>
Title: I need to rewrite this sentence while keeping the same meaning and starting with the given word(s)
Question: Paul and Jane moved to Paris two years ago.      It is...     If the starting words were "it has" I could have written "It has been two years since...". But the auxiliary "be" is used instead and I am not allowed to change it. I don't have a single idea what the solution might be.

Answers:
sents: text: "It is two years since Paul and Jane moved to Paris." is still correct, even though less common.
text: For example, have a look at this quote by Sally Brampton (which is the best example Google spewed out at a quick glance
text: — I'm sure there are many more to find)
text: It is two years since I emerged from depression
text: and I no longer want myself dead.
text: I want myself alive.
text: You might also want to have a look at English Grammar in Use : a reference and practice book for intermediate students of English by Raymond Murphy.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/19578/Wottensprels
score: 24
sents: text: As Sprottenwels says in their answer (emphasis mine):
text: "It is two years since Paul and Jane moved to Paris." is still correct, even though less common .
text: You could make this more common by inserting the word now : It is now two years since Paul and Jane moved to Paris
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/11145/AndyT
score: 13
sents: text: AndyT's variation on Sprottenwels' answer is probably the most natural sounding, but I'll offer this alternative (which is similar to a comment by Jim)
text: It is Paris to which Paul and Jane moved two years ago This variant emphasises
text: Paris (i.e. where they moved to) rather than the two years
text: (i.e. when they moved), which might be desirable depending on the context.
text: However, it's a slightly old-fashioned construction.
text: The only similar quote I could find was from Jean Paul Sartre in his essay
text: " What is Literature ":
text: It is Paris to which writers from the provinces, if they are well-off, come to practise regionalism
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/59148/Alec Harkness
score: 6
sents: text: It is the case that Paul and Jane moved to Paris two years ago.
text: There are many ways in which English speakers, and even writers, extend sentences without materially altering the meaning.
text: Any assertion may be prefaced with one of these:
text: It is true that ... Believe me when I say ... Actually ...
text: The fact is ...
text: I can tell you ...
text: It is the case that ... In using the latter, the speaker probably feels that the added phrase lends a note of authority or formality.
text: It is often used when alternatives to the assertion have been suggested or implied.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/59150/Jive Dadson
score: 5
sents: text: Just to demonstrate that there are several ways to solve this problem, here's another one in idiomatic English.
text: It is the third year that Paul and Jane have spent living in Paris.
text: You can't change the verb, but you still have a ton of flexibility since the subject of the sentence hasn't been nailed down for you.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/8660/Racheet
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
It is  now  two years since Paul and Jane moved to Paris.
It is  now  two years since Paul and Jane moved to Paris