Cleft sentences are special types of sentences in English that are used to emphasize a particular part of the sentence. In a cleft sentence, the sentence is split into two parts, where the focus is placed on the second part of the sentence.Here are some examples of cleft sentences:
It was John who broke the vase.
What I need is a good night's sleep.
It's her birthday that we're celebrating.
What we saw was a beautiful sunset.
It's the red dress that looks good on you.
In each of these examples, the second part of the sentence is emphasized by putting it in a cleft structure. By doing so, the speaker can draw attention to a particular element of the sentence that they want to emphasize.
A cleft sentence is a sentence in which a single message is divided into two parts to emphasize a particular point. The sentence is split to make the most important point more prominent. There are different types of cleft sentences, but all of them follow the same pattern of dividing the sentence into two parts.
The basic structure of a cleft sentence is as follows: It + be-verb + emphasized part + that/who/whom/whose + remaining part. Here are some examples of cleft sentences:
There are three main types of cleft sentences: it-clefts, wh-clefts, and reversed wh-clefts.
It-clefts: These are the most common type of cleft sentences, and they start with "it" and the linking verb "be." The emphasized part comes after the verb and is followed by a relative clause starting with "that."
Example: It was the party that he didn't enjoy.
Wh-clefts: These sentences start with a wh-word (what, who, whom, which, where) followed by the verb "be" and the emphasized part.
Example: Who I really admire is my grandmother.
Reversed wh-clefts: These sentences start with a wh-word and the emphasized part followed by the verb "be."
Example: What she needs is more time.
The above examples are cleft sentences, but they can also be rephrased without using a cleft construction.
Here are the same sentences without the cleft:
His car was stolen.
Her voice annoys me.
I saw her at the park.
My sister is a doctor.
I talked to the teacher yesterday.
It was his car that was stolen. (emphasizing "his car")
It's her voice that annoys me. (emphasizing "her voice")
It was at the park where I saw her. (emphasizing "at the park")
It's my sister who's the doctor. (emphasizing "my sister")
It's the teacher who I talked to yesterday. (emphasizing "the teacher")
Normal sentence: The book was written by Jane Austen.
Cleft sentence: It was Jane Austen who wrote the book
Normal sentence: She won the competition.
Cleft sentence: It was she who won the competition.
Normal sentence: He cooked the dinner.
Cleft sentence: It was he who cooked the dinner.
Normal sentence: They built the house.
Cleft sentence: It was they who built the house.
His car was stolen.
Her voice annoys me.
I saw her at the park.
My sister is a doctor.
I talked to the teacher yesterday.
It was his car that was stolen. (emphasizing "his car")
It's her voice that annoys me. (emphasizing "her voice")
It was at the park where I saw her. (emphasizing "at the park")
It's my sister who's the doctor. (emphasizing "my sister")
It's the teacher who I talked to yesterday. (emphasizing "the teacher")
Normal sentence: The book was written by Jane Austen.
Cleft sentence: It was Jane Austen who wrote the book
Normal sentence: She won the competition.
Cleft sentence: It was she who won the competition.
Normal sentence: He cooked the dinner.
Cleft sentence: It was he who cooked the dinner.
Normal sentence: They built the house.
Cleft sentence: It was they who built the house.
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Also read : If Clauses
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