Cleft Sentences

Exercises

Explanation

1. What are cleft sentences?

A cleft sentence has two parts:

• A main clause (usually beginning with it or what)

• A second clause that completes the meaning

We use them to emphasise:

• a person

• a place

• a time

• an action

• a reason

Normal sentence: My cousin baked the cake.

Cleft sentence: It was my cousin who baked the cake.
(We emphasize my cousin.)

2. It-cleft sentences (very common)

Structure: It + be + emphasised part + that / who / where / when clause

We choose a different part to emphasise:

Examples:

It was Emma who called you last night.
(emphasising the person)

It was the blue jacket that I bought yesterday.
(emphasising the object)

It was in Paris where we met for the first time.
(emphasising the place)

It was on Monday that the new course started.
(emphasising the time)

Notes:

• Use who for people

• Use that for things (often optional in speaking)

• The verb be changes to match the tense

It wasn’t Mark who sent the message. (negative form)

Is it tomorrow that we are leaving? (question form)

3. What-cleft sentences (also common)

These sentences begin with what and focus on the second part.

Structure: What + subject + verb + be + (noun / -ing form / infinitive / clause)

Examples:

What I need is a quiet weekend.
(emphasising “a quiet weekend”)

What she likes most is cooking Italian food.
(emphasising her favourite activity)

What they did was break the window by accident.
(emphasising the action)

What I don’t understand is why he left early.
(emphasising the reason)

Sometimes other WH-words are used:

How she solved the problem was impressive.
Where we met first was a small café.

4. Cleft sentences with fixed expressions

We can also begin cleft sentences with phrases like: all, the thing, the reason, the person, something

Examples:

All I want is a hot drink.

The reason we’re late is that the bus broke down.

The person you need to ask is the manager.

Something I love is swimming in the sea.

5. Quick rules to remember

Use cleft sentences to focus attention

Normal: Laura forgot the keys.
Cleft: It was Laura who forgot the keys.

The verb “be” matches the tense

Past: It was yesterday that we moved in.
Present: It is the main road that gets busy.

In what-clefts, the second verb depends on meaning

• For actions in progress → -ing form
  What they are doing is preparing dinner.

• For planned or wanted actions → to + infinitive
  What she wants to do is to travel abroad.

• For simple actions → bare infinitive
  What he did was break the rule.