Cleft sentences

A cleft sentence is a complex sentence (one having a main clause and a dependent clause) that has a meaning that could be expressed by a simple sentence. Clefts typically put a particular constituent into focus. This focusing is often accompanied by a special intonation.

Cleft sentences are used in English to emphasise a feeling or opinion. Two common forms of cleft structure are:

1 What + clause...

2 It is + noun phrase + that ...

Sentences introduced by a clause beginning with ‘What’ are used to emphasise a specific subject or object. The clause introduced by ‘What’ is employed as the subject of the sentence as is followed by the verb ‘to be’.

Examples:

What we need is a good long shower.

What he thinks isn’t necessarily true.

Sentences introduced by ‘It is’ or ‘It was’ are often used to emphasise a specific subject or object. The introductory clause is then followed by a relative pronoun.

Examples:

It was I who/that received the promotion.

It is the awful weather that drives him crazy.

Have a look at this presentation.

For further practice, try doing these exercises 1, 2, 3 online