Cleft Sentences

The basic frame is it + be, the focused element and a dependent clause with that/who. Choose the tense of be according to how the element is identified; it does not always have to match the tense of the event: It’s the parents who were protesting most.

After the focus, the dependent clause looks like a sentence from which that element has been removed. If the subject has been removed, the verb remains without a separately expressed subject; if the object or an adverbial has been removed, the dependent clause retains its own subject.

In the standard frame, what cannot replace that/who. When an object is focused, the linking word can be omitted in informal speech: It was your sister I met. Be remains in the main clause.

A noun phrase works well as the focus: a subject, an object or a person. Adverbials of time, place, reason and manner, including prepositional phrases, can also be focused.

Noun phrases and adverbials are the most straightforward choices for an ordinary it-cleft. To focus on the action or a characteristic itself, another frame is often more natural, such as What she did was call the manager. Do not mechanically move any word after it was.

Keep a single focus. Two elements competing for attention weaken the effect.

Both who and that are natural for a person in focus. That is used for things, places, times and reasons. Which is also possible for things but sounds more formal. For neutral use with adverbials, this lesson uses that.

The focused element may be plural, but it remains singular: use it was, not were. By contrast, the verb in the dependent clause agrees with a focused subject because it predicates something of that element.

It was is natural in a past narrative, especially in the ordinary example It was yesterday that I met Tom. However, it is can identify the participant in a past event from the present perspective: It is Alina who called yesterday. Choose the tense according to the whole message.

A typical function of an it-cleft is to correct a mistaken assumption. It is therefore often accompanied by not X or but: ‘not X, but Y’. Negation goes with be and changes the identification: ‘not what you thought’.

A particular fixed pattern is it wasn’t until … that …: the event did not occur before a certain point. Yes/no questions begin with be, while a question word asks about the focused element: Who was it that…?

The frame does not necessarily express contrast: it can simply answer ‘who exactly?’ or ‘when exactly?’.

A simple check is to reconstruct an ordinary sentence from a true it-cleft by removing it, be and that/who: It was Anna who won gives Anna won. This does not work with sentences such as It is essential that… or It seems that…: it simply fills the subject position, and that introduces a content clause.

Two related focusing patterns not covered here are sentences beginning with what, such as What bothers me is…, and constructions such as All I need is…. They emphasise a different element and have different structures.

Do not overload a text: an it-cleft in every sentence sounds theatrical. One or two at a point where you truly need to correct an assumption or identify the key point are enough.

In conversation, an it-cleft helps counter another person’s assumption, answer who or when, and draw attention to a reason. In writing, it can strengthen an argument.

For your own sentence, first identify what the reader might mistakenly believe, put that element in focus and leave the remainder in the dependent clause. Then check that there is one focused element, the right who/that and correct verb agreement.

The initial what-clause functions as the subject of the whole sentence, so is or was comes immediately after it, not a second verb or the pronoun it. Word order inside the clause is direct, as in a statement: what she wanted, not what did she want.

The focus after be can be a noun phrase, an action, or a whole clause with how, why, whether, or that. Is/was often presents the what-clause as one meaningful unit. Are/were is also possible before a plural focus: What we need are more chairs.

When describing a completed situation, we often use was: What we found was a small door. If we are now identifying or explaining the result of something in the past, is is possible: What we found is a serious problem. For a current need, What I need is… is natural; for a change up to the present, use What has changed is….

This is not a mechanical rule but a consequence of the meaning. The tense in the clause and after the linking verb can be different, while the linking verb indicates the point in time the speaker is talking about.

To highlight the action itself, the clause contains do, does, or did, and an infinitive comes after the linking verb. This is most often the bare form of the verb; a to-infinitive is also possible, especially when the clause contains to do or want to. Past-tense forms or an -s ending are not used after the linking verb here.

This frame is useful for advice, plans, and describing a sequence of actions: it first names the category (what to do), then gives the actual content of the action.

The focus is often a whole clause, following verbs such as happened, surprised, puzzles, and annoys. The clause is introduced by how, why, whether, or that. In speech, that is often omitted after the linking verb.

Word order in the focus clause is always direct: why nobody asked, not why did nobody ask.

In the inverted version, the focus and the clause change places: the focus opens the sentence, then comes the linking verb, and the what-clause finishes it. This order quickly connects the new sentence with the previous one and is often strengthened by the word exactly.

Below, we practise the inverted frame with a noun-phrase focus. To highlight an action, it is usually simpler to begin with What … do…, but do not take this as a ban on all other types of inverted focus.

A what-cleft introduces new information, contrasts with an expectation, corrects a mistaken assumption, and announces the main point of a talk. It is suitable in both speech and writing, but if it is used in every sentence, the emphasis disappears. A neutral sentence is often better.

Boundaries with related constructions: emphasis on people, places, and time is provided by an it-cleft (It was … that …), while constructions with all and the thing/reason follow separate rules. Not every sentence with what is a cleft: in What the guide said worried the passengers, the initial clause is simply the subject, and there is no linking verb with a highlighted element. Questions and exclamations with What are not clefts either.

The phrase “that... is...” may tempt learners to add it after the clause or open the sentence with that. In English, the linking verb comes immediately after the clause, and the initial word is always what. Also remember the linking verb: leaving out is/was makes the sentence incomplete.

After a do-clause, the action is named with the bare form or with to, not with a past-tense form. The clause itself also keeps direct word order.

After a frame with simple do/does/did, have to do, or could do, the action is usually named with the base form, with or without to: All he did was (to) wait. This is not a literal repetition of the past form did in the second part.

In this pattern, did/does does not require a past form or an -ing form after be. If the first part contains doing, the corresponding -ing form is natural: All he is doing is waiting for a call. In other frames, -ing can be the name of an activity, so do not forbid it without considering the structure.

The verb do cannot be omitted from the first part: without it, the group have to is incomplete. When an ordinary verb follows all (All I want is…), what follows may be a noun, an infinitive, or a clause with for and that.

The frame The thing (that) + clause + is/was + focus first names the topic: what surprised, annoys, is needed, or is missing. Only then, after the linking verb, comes the answer. The listener sees the question and the answer within one sentence.

In the clause after thing, use that or which. If the clause has its own subject, they are often omitted in conversation: The thing I miss most is the sea. If that or which itself is the subject of the clause, it is required. The word what is not used here: it already means the thing that. A pronoun that duplicates the subject is also unnecessary.

The focus can be a noun phrase, a to-infinitive, or a clause with that or how. The form of the focus depends on what is being placed at the end: a thing, an action, or a complete fact.

The frame The reason + clause + is/was has two typical continuations. If a complete fact follows the linking verb, it is introduced by that: The reason … is that …. If the purpose of an action is named, use to + verb: The reason … is to ….

Between reason and the following part, you can use why, that, or nothing: The reason why prices rose / The reason prices rose. After is, that is the usual form; is because is also common and grammatical, although some editorial styles prefer is that.

The linking verb agrees with the time: The reason I'm writing is to ask for a reference (present), The reason we left was that it got late (past).

The same idea works with other words. For a person, use The person who…; for a place, The place where…; for a time, The time when…; and for a manner, The way (that)…. The base word indicates which relative form is needed and what is in focus.

Frames with person, place, and time are needed less often than the thing and the reason: they name who, where, and when. It is useful to know them, but you do not need to practise them in every text.

An It cleft (It was Mara who solved the puzzle) highlights one participant or circumstance; a What cleft (What I need is a break) highlights what is needed or what happened. These are separate cleft patterns; here, the important thing is simply to distinguish them from our pair.

If you need to say “only this,” choose All: All I need is a break. If you need to name a thing that surprised or annoys you, use the thing; for a reason, the reason; for a person, the person. If nothing needs emphasis, an ordinary sentence is better: a cleft used unnecessarily sounds strained.

All these frames postpone the main information until the end, so they work well in explanations, instructions, and presentations: the listener first hears the topic and then the answer. They are equally natural in writing and conversation, but in formal writing the All frame sounds somewhat more conversational.

Do not wrap every sentence in a cleft. One or two frames per paragraph highlight what is genuinely important, while a series of them turns the text into a repetitive pattern.