I wrote in an email:
Il lui coûterait sans doute de l’avouer, mais sa maîtrise de la cuisine japonaise est assez médiocre...
I haven’t given it much thought until now, but I wonder if the direct object pronoun « le {it} » can be used to refer to an idea that is only introduced later in the sentence?
The « le » in this sentence refers to the part after the « mais ». Is this usage allowed? I mean, compared to when « le {it} » refers to a preceding idea:
Sa maîtrise de la cuisine japonaise est assez médiocre, il lui coûterait sans doute de l’avouer.
The English equivalent would be:
I haven't realised this until now, but tomorrow is Christmas Eve!