misprint halfway down the page?

Question

In the bottom half of the quick lesson it says:
"- the more elegant 
Comment se fait-il que ... ?-> Note the use of inverted question form to emphasise the elegant structure."  
 
Did you leave out 'cela' between 'Comment' and 'se fait-il'?

Accepted Answer

The phrase Comment se fait-il que ... ? is correctly formed as it stands. This is a standard and formal way to ask "How is it that ...?" in French. You could add cela (comment cela se fait-il que...) but that would be more verbose and less common.

Answer

Yes, one must leave that out.

The only possible forms of this constructions are:

Comment ça se fait que...? (Spoken: Comment ça s'fait qu'...?)

Comment se fait-il que...? (Spoken: Comment s'fait-il qu'...?)

This is a fixed expression in french.

Hope this answer helps you!