A cleft sentence is a phrase that takes a simple sentence and divides it into to part in order place emphasis on one of the parts.[1]https://www.slideserve.com/nusa/what-is-a-cleft-sentence
It Cleft Sentence
This type of cleft uses the word “it” to identify what it is placing emphasis on.
The pattern is:
it + be + “highlighted word or phrase” + that/who clause[2]https://www.slideshare.net/caticah/cleft-sentences-72374267
For example, if the original sentence is “Susie bought a movie from the store last month.”
We can make the…
Subject the focus
It was Susie who/that bought a movie from the store last month.
Object the focus
It was a movie that Susie bought from the store last month.
Time the focus
It was last month that Susie bought a movie from the store.
Place the focus
It was from the store that Susie bought a movie last month.
What Cleft Sentence
This type of cleft uses the word “what” to identify what it is placing emphasis on.
The pattern is:
what + be + “highlighted word or phrase”
For example, if the same original sentence as before “Susie bought a movie from the store last month.”
We can make the…
Word/phrase the focus
What Susie bought at the store last month was a movie.
Action the focus
What Susie did last month was buy a movie from the store.
Whole sentence the focus
What happened was Susie bough a movie from the store last month.
Other Types of Cleft Sentence
There are a few other types of cleft sentence structures you can use.
For example:
- The person who said it was Fred.
- The thing she wants is a hamburger.
- The place I used to work at is closed.
- The time I went to university was the best time of my life.
- The reason she didn’t say anything was due to her shyness.
Practice Exercises
Rewrite the following sentences to put emphasis on the underlined part. Use “it” cleft sentences.
References