Pseudo-clefts and Reverse Pseudo-clefts

A wh-cleft puts an established topic in an initial what-clause and places new or important information after is or was: What the museum lacks is a proper archive. At C2, the aim is not only to build the form—with no inversion, required prepositions inside the clause, and a do-cleft for an action—but also to judge whether the complement contributes a useful focus or makes the sentence feel empty or excessive.

Published October 3, 2026

Wh-clefts, or pseudo-clefts: What … is …

The intuition: established information first, new information last

A wh-cleft, or pseudo-cleft, divides a simple message into two parts. The first, the what-clause, names a topic the listener already has in mind. The second, after is or was, supplies the point you want to make. A brief pause before the focus can create anticipation: what exactly will be identified?

The focus often supplies new information or corrects an expectation, but it can also recall or deliberately emphasize something already known. Novelty is not the only issue: consider whether this distribution of attention helps the particular utterance.

How to build it

What + subject + verb + is/was + focus → topic, often established → focus, often new

subject / S: The grammatical subject: who or what the clause is about; the verb agrees with it. In The book was written, the book is the subject, although someone else does the action.
verb / V: A word for an action or state, such as work or be. The pattern determines its form.

What the museum lacks is a proper archive of its early donations.

The topic is what the museum lacks; the new, important information is the archive. That is the identification the listener is waiting for.

What impressed the jury was the restraint of the design.

The wh-clause introduces the topic of the jury’s reaction, and the focus identifies what caused it.

What I'd like to hear is how the figures were verified.

An embedded question can also be the focus: the speaker identifies exactly what they want to hear about.

The form: what-clause, be, focus

The what-clause functions as the subject, followed by a form of be and then the focus. It uses statement word order, without question inversion: What the staff wanted …, not What did the staff want …. When what itself is the subject, auxiliary do is unnecessary: What annoyed the staff …. A stressed What did annoy the staff … is possible specifically as emphatic contrast.

A preposition belonging to the verb stays inside the clause: What the panel disagreed with was …. Do not add an extra pronoun before or after be. The what-clause is followed directly by is or was.

How to build it

What + (subject) + verb (+ preposition) + is/was + focus

subject / S: The grammatical subject: who or what the clause is about; the verb agrees with it. In The book was written, the book is the subject, although someone else does the action.
verb / V: A word for an action or state, such as work or be. The pattern determines its form.
preposition: A word showing a relationship, such as in, on or from: from Ukraine.

What bothers the inspectors is the state of the stairwells.

What is the subject of the clause, so no auxiliary is needed.

What the editors relied on was a single, outdated survey.

The preposition on remains with relied inside the clause.

What caught my eye was a footnote on page ninety.

The clause uses ordinary past tense, followed by was before the focus.

What can occupy the focus

The focus is most often a noun phrase. Other structures can follow is or was too: a gerund or infinitive, a that-clause, an embedded question introduced by why, how, who or whether, or a contrast of not X but Y.

Choose the focus structure according to what you want to highlight: a thing, an action, a conclusion or an open question. This is connected to your choice of starting point, such as what is missing versus what has become clear.

What the neighbours want is a pedestrian crossing.

The focus is a noun phrase.

What he hates is waiting in queues.

A gerund occupies the focus. The what-clause contains a verb expressing an attitude, rather than do.

What the evidence suggests is that the effect is real but small.

A that-clause is the focus: the conclusion the speaker wants to emphasize.

What nobody has explained is why the figures were revised.

An embedded question is the focus: an issue that remains unanswered.

What remains to be settled is whether the fee applies retroactively.

The whether-clause presents the focus as a choice between two possibilities.

Do-clefts: highlighting an action

To highlight an action, use do in the what-clause and an infinitive after be: What I do is write; What she did was compare. The tenses often refer to the same time frame, but they do not have to match mechanically: What I learned then is that careful checking matters.

In the basic action pattern after do, did or done, the infinitive can appear with or without to: What I do is (to) check the figures. In the examples with did, was is followed by compare, not compared. If progressive aspect matters, a corresponding -ing form is possible: What she is doing is checking the figures.

How to build it

What + subject + do, in the required tense + is/was + (to) + verb

subject / S: The grammatical subject: who or what the clause is about; the verb agrees with it. In The book was written, the book is the subject, although someone else does the action.
verb / V: A word for an action or state, such as work or be. The pattern determines its form.

What the translator did was compare every line with the original.

The action is highlighted: the base form compare follows was.

What I usually do is write the conclusion first.

A present-tense habit: do — is — base form.

What the council has done is to postpone the decision.

After the present perfect here, to is optional. The sentence is also correct without it.

Be: agreement and tense

A what-clause often takes singular is or was because it presents a unified topic. Choose the tense of be according to the intended meaning: a past episode usually takes was, while a current assessment may take is. Do not mechanically copy the tense of the verb inside the clause.

Before a plural focus, both is and are are possible: What the shelter needs is/are extra beds. Both patterns occur; the singular-focus examples here require is. In What happened was (that)…, that can be omitted.

What worried the engineers then was the cost of the foundations.

This example describes a past situation, so be is also in the past tense.

What worries the engineers now is the delivery schedule.

This example concerns the present, so it uses is.

What happened next was that the roof gave way.

In a narrative, What happened … was is a natural way to introduce an event.

Relative what, rather than interrogative what

In this cleft, what means the thing that, rather than asking What?. A useful check is to replace the what-clause with the thing(s) that … and follow it with be. When what introduces an embedded question, as in She asked what …, that is a different construction without a focus after be.

Other wh-words appear in certain established frames: where for the location of a problem or a point in an argument, and how for a manner. What remains the main and safest pattern to learn. When identifying people, English uses other structures such as The person who …, covered by separate rules.

She asked what the inspectors had found.

This is an embedded question. There is no be + focus after the what-clause, so it is not a cleft.

What the inspectors found was mould behind every wall.

This is a cleft: what means the thing that, and mould is the focus.

Where the argument breaks down is in its second premise.

Where replaces what: the focus identifies the location of the weak point.

Why use a cleft? Contrast, attitude and narrative

Clefts work well for correcting expectations—not X but Y—highlighting your attitude, as in What impressed me …, recounting an event, as in What happened was …, and emphasizing an action.

A cleft lets you highlight the focus and prepare the listener for it. A pause is possible but not compulsory: the particular intonation and degree of newness depend on the speech and context.

What the museum needs is not a bigger building but a clearer purpose.

A contrast corrects the initial expectation.

What I said was that the deadline might move, not that it had.

A correction of someone’s account of what was said: the focus gives the exact content.

What strikes me about the proposal is how little it says about maintenance.

An evaluative reaction: the wh-clause introduces the topic of the speaker’s response.

What happened was that the ferry arrived an hour early and left without us.

A narrative use: a whole clause identifies the event.

Scope and restraint

Not every sentence needs to be a cleft. Several in a row can weigh down a passage, but can also create deliberate parallelism. Choose repetition according to the purpose and rhythm of the text, rather than following a fixed ban.

Related constructions are outside this lesson’s scope: reversed order with the focus first, as in A clearer purpose is what the museum needs; clefts with all or thing, as in All I want is … or The thing that …; and it-clefts. Here, the aim is simply to distinguish them from what-clefts. An ordinary simple sentence often remains the best choice, especially when new information is already in the subject.

The museum needs a clearer purpose.

A simple sentence sounds more natural when no special emphasis is needed.

What we measured was latency. What we found was jitter. What we fixed was the router.

The three clefts create a parallel summary of stages. If that rhythm is unnecessary, keep one emphasis and simplify the rest. Repetition itself is not an error.

Common mistakes

Incorrect:What troubles the board are the absence of a clear plan.

Correct:What troubles the board is the absence of a clear plan.

Be agrees with the singular what-clause, and the focus is singular too. Are is incorrect in this example.

Incorrect:What the auditor did was ignored the warning signs.

Correct:What the auditor did was ignore the warning signs.

In this do-cleft, was is followed by the base form, optionally with to, rather than a past-tense verb.

Incorrect:What did the residents object to was the new parking charge.

Correct:What the residents objected to was the new parking charge.

The subject inside the clause is the residents, so use statement word order, without question inversion or auxiliary did.

Incorrect:What the panel focused was the cost of delay.

Correct:What the panel focused on was the cost of delay.

The preposition belonging to the verb remains inside the clause: focus on.

Incorrect:Which we lack is a shared vocabulary.

Correct:What we lack is a shared vocabulary.

This cleft begins with what, meaning the thing that. Which or that does not form this construction here.

Incorrect:What I need it is a quiet week.

Correct:What I need is a quiet week.

Be follows the what-clause directly. The pronoun it is unnecessary here.

Sources

Reversed pseudocleft sentences

The idea: the focus moves to the beginning

In a standard pseudocleft, the wh-clause comes first, followed by the focused element: “What impressed the judges was her calm under pressure.” A reversed pseudocleft switches the two sides of be: the focus opens the sentence, and the wh-clause completes it.

The content does not change; the distribution of attention does. The focus occupies the subject position, so the listener immediately sees what the sentence is about, while the subordinate clause specifies the role that element plays.

This is a rearrangement within the same construction, so the wh-word, the form of the subordinate clause and its “gap” remain the same as in the standard version.

How to build it

Focus + is/was + what (why, where, how, when) + clause

clause: A construction with a verb, often with its own subject: when I arrived. A non-finite clause may leave the subject unspoken: to get home.

Her calm under pressure is what impressed the judges.

The focus comes first; is is followed by a what-clause in which what is the subject.

What impressed the judges was her calm under pressure.

The standard version for comparison: the same content, but with the focus at the end.

Reliable data is what every good forecast stands on.

The preposition on remains in the subordinate clause, and what stands for what would follow it.

The subordinate clause: gaps, word order and prepositions

Be is followed by an ordinary subordinate clause with statement order. What fills the role of the element “missing” from that clause, so there is no second copy of the focus: a pronoun repeating it is redundant.

The subordinate clause has no question inversion: what we need, not what do we need. Emphatic do is possible with ordinary word order: what we do need. In the basic pattern with what, the preposition usually remains in the subordinate clause: what we depend on.

What can be the subject of the subordinate clause (what broke the deadlock) or its object (what we need). Both patterns can follow is because the focus identifies the element represented by what.

Quiet evenings are what I miss most about the village.

What is the object of miss; there is no second object in the subordinate clause.

A second opinion is what the patient asked for.

The preposition for comes at the end of the subordinate clause.

Rising costs are what forced the studio to close.

What is the subject of the subordinate clause here, so there is no additional subject before forced.

Choosing the wh-word: what, why, where, how, when, who

The wh-word matches the relevant relationship: what for a thing or content, why for a reason, where for a place, how for a manner, and when for a time. Who is possible for a person, although the frame the person who is often clearer; this is not a universal rule that who is more formal.

What occupies a participant role in the subordinate clause. Why, where, how and when connect it to a reason, place, manner or time. Do not duplicate that role with an extra element; whether the rest is complete depends on the particular verb and construction.

The focus can be expressed by a noun, a gerund or a demonstrative. Choose the wh-word according to meaning, not the grammatical form of the focus.

The old quarry is where the first fossils were found.

The focus names a place; the rest of the subordinate clause is complete.

Cost-cutting is why the lab closed its second site.

The focus names a reason; the rest of the subordinate clause is complete.

Careful sampling is how the team avoided bias.

The focus names a method.

Late spring is when the glacier melts fastest.

The focus names a time.

Marta is who the committee wants to hear from.

Who connects the person to the object of hear from. You can also say Marta is the person the committee wants to hear from.

This and that as the focus: linking neighbouring sentences

That is what I mean and This is why we met are common ways to connect a remark to its context. That often picks up something already said, while this can introduce an explanation; both can also refer to preceding content, depending on the speaker's focus.

This makes the form useful for summarising a list: the listener has heard several facts, and a short sentence with That identifies their shared cause or consequence.

Three resignations in a month. That is what has the board worried.

That picks up the fact just mentioned.

This is what the data shows: most visitors leave within ten seconds.

This announces what follows.

Prices fell and wages stalled. That is why people stopped spending.

That summarises two facts and links them to the reason for what follows.

When to choose the reversed order

Information in a sentence usually moves from familiar to new. A standard pseudocleft prepares the listener for a new element at the end. A reversed pseudocleft is natural when the focus has already been mentioned or is clear from the conversation, or when you want to put the answer first.

The reversed form is often called “more emphatic”. More precisely, the first position attracts attention, but the end of a sentence is also prominent, so neither form is always stronger. The difference lies in the connection to context: the reversed form naturally responds to a remark, refers back and sounds like a clear assertion.

That is what/why is common in conversation. In writing and speeches, a longer noun-phrase focus can act as a thesis that the subordinate clause develops.

Sustained funding is what separates durable institutions from fashionable ones.

The long noun-phrase focus acts as a thesis.

The colleagues are what keep me here.

An answer to a question about why the person stays: the topic is already established.

Neighbouring constructions: it-clefts, standard pseudoclefts, all-clefts and thing-clefts

An it-cleft has a different frame: It was her calm that impressed the judges. Some it-clefts allow the relative marker to be omitted, but in this example that is the subject of impressed and remains. In a reversed pseudocleft, use be + what.

Standard pseudoclefts and constructions with All and The thing (All I need is…, The thing I need is…) have separate rules in this topic. Here they serve only as comparisons: we are practising the construction in which the focus opens the sentence and a wh-word follows be.

It is patience that wins arguments with the board.

An it-cleft uses the frame It is … that: here, that rather than what.

Boundaries and pitfalls

Do not confuse be + what with be + a that-clause: in The problem is that nobody owns the schedule, that introduces a complete content clause. This is a different construction.

Do not add that after what, repeat the focus inside the subordinate clause, use question word order or lose the final preposition.

Check whether the emphasis is needed. Repeated reversed pseudoclefts can create deliberate parallelism or make a text feel overloaded; the stylistic choice depends on context.

The problem is that nobody owns the schedule.

This is be + a that-clause, not a reversed pseudocleft.

Nobody owning the schedule is what worries me.

Here, the gerund phrase serving as the focus comes first, and is is followed by a what-clause.

Common mistakes

Incorrect:Fresh air is that helps her concentrate.

Correct:Fresh air is what helps her concentrate.

A reversed pseudocleft needs what after be here because the subordinate clause needs a subject; that does not fit.

Incorrect:A softer tone is what we want it.

Correct:A softer tone is what we want.

What already serves as the object of want, so the pronoun it duplicates the focus.

Incorrect:Stable funding is what do researchers depend on.

Correct:Stable funding is what researchers depend on.

The subordinate clause uses statement order: after what, the subject comes before the verb, without question-forming do.

Incorrect:Her openness is what I was drawn.

Correct:Her openness is what I was drawn to.

The preposition to belongs to be drawn to and remains at the end of the subordinate clause.

Incorrect:The strike is what the trains were cancelled.

Correct:The strike is why the trains were cancelled.

The subordinate clause is complete, and the focus names a reason, so use why, not what.

Sources

All-clefts and thing-clefts

1. Three different devices

A cleft divides an idea into two parts: the left-hand part prepares the listener, and the part after be supplies the focus. In this rule, the left-hand part begins with all, the thing or the reason rather than what.

All identifies the complete extent of what is needed or done in the context. The thing highlights the matter under discussion; the reason highlights a cause. These frames can appear together in a longer statement. Choose according to what you want to emphasise.

How to build it

All / The thing / The reason + (relative link) + subject + verb + be + focus

subject / S: The grammatical subject: who or what the clause is about; the verb agrees with it. In The book was written, the book is the subject, although someone else does the action.
verb / V: A word for an action or state, such as work or be. The pattern determines its form.

All I need is a quiet hour.

All limits the need: nothing else is required.

The thing that tires me most is the commute.

Conversational emphasis identifies what causes the greatest tiredness.

The reason I'm writing is that the invoice is wrong.

The part after be gives the reason for the action in the left-hand part.

2. The all-cleft: 'only this'

All in the left-hand part means 'the whole of what is needed, available or done is…'. Speakers often use it to present a request as modest, but the amount may be large or include several things. The limitation concerns the complete list of needs, not necessarily the small size of each one.

All I want is a new house and a year off is grammatically and logically possible: the speaker names the whole request. A large request after all may sound ironic or understated in context, but the construction itself creates no contradiction.

In All (that) I want, relative that is an object and may be omitted. When it is the subject before a finite verb, retain it: All that matters is your safety. All what I want is not the standard pattern.

How to build it

All + (that) + subject + verb + be + the complete stated requirement

subject / S: The grammatical subject: who or what the clause is about; the verb agrees with it. In The book was written, the book is the subject, although someone else does the action.
verb / V: A word for an action or state, such as work or be. The pattern determines its form.

All the team wants is a clear deadline.

The speaker presents a clear deadline as the whole outcome the team needs in this context.

All I'm after is a straight answer.

A conversational version using the preposition after.

All I want is a bit more time and your whole budget.

All covers both stated needs. The large request may sound ironic, but does not grammatically or logically contradict all.

3. All … do is (to) V

All + subject + do + be highlights the complete set of actions being named. It may contain one action or several: All you have to do is sign the form and send it back.

After be, the focused verb is an infinitive, with or without to. A past-tense form after was is incorrect in this pattern: the finite part already expresses past time, as in All he did was ask a question.

In the basic present example All she does is complain, does and is fit the current situation. Choose each part's tense according to meaning; a simple instruction to copy the tense cannot cover every possible statement.

How to build it

All + subject + do/does/did + be + (to) V · All + subject + have/has to do + be + (to) V

subject / S: The grammatical subject: who or what the clause is about; the verb agrees with it. In The book was written, the book is the subject, although someone else does the action.
verb / V: A word for an action or state, such as work or be. The pattern determines its form.

All he did was ask a question.

One action, with a bare infinitive after was.

All you have to do is press the green button.

An instruction framed as requiring only a minimal step.

All she does is complain.

Present time is expressed by does and is.

4. The thing-cleft: conversational emphasis

The thing + that/which + verb highlights a focus in conversation: The thing that surprised me was the price. When the relative word is an object, it can be omitted: The thing I admire about her is her patience.

A word before thing changes the nuance. The only thing and the one thing add a restriction; the first thing marks order; the best thing evaluates. The thing alone does not imply a minimal requirement.

There is also a conversational opening, The thing is, …, followed by a complete clause giving a qualification or explanation: The thing is, we're short on time.

How to build it

The (only/one/first/best) thing + (that/which) + subject/verb + be + focus

subject / S: The grammatical subject: who or what the clause is about; the verb agrees with it. In The book was written, the book is the subject, although someone else does the action.
verb / V: A word for an action or state, such as work or be. The pattern determines its form.

The thing I admire about her is her patience.

The relative word is omitted because it would be the object of admire.

The one thing I'd change is the font.

One adds a restriction.

The thing is, we're short on time.

A discourse opening followed by a complete clause after the comma.

5. The reason-cleft: explaining a cause

The reason + (why/that) + subject + verb + be + that-clause explains a cause: The reason we hired her is that she asks good questions. After reason, use why, that or no linking word.

If the left-hand part names the event with a noun, use for: The reason for the refund was a damaged box. Be agrees with singular reason, regardless of number within the following that-clause.

A to-infinitive can also express the reason after be: The reason I came was to apologise. The most reliable neutral pattern for this lesson is a that-clause after be.

How to build it

The reason (why/that) + subject + verb + be + that-clause / to V

subject / S: The grammatical subject: who or what the clause is about; the verb agrees with it. In The book was written, the book is the subject, although someone else does the action.
verb / V: A word for an action or state, such as work or be. The pattern determines its form.
clause: A construction with a verb, often with its own subject: when I arrived. A non-finite clause may leave the subject unspoken: to get home.

The reason we hired her is that she asks good questions.

The that-clause names the reason.

The reason for the refund was a damaged box.

For + noun appears on the left; the focus after be is a noun phrase.

The reason I came was to apologise.

The to-infinitive expresses the purpose.

6. What follows be?

The focus after be can take different forms depending on the left-hand part. Common possibilities include a noun phrase, a fair hearing; a that-clause, is that you listen; a to-infinitive, is to sleep; or for + subject + to V, is for you to be happy.

After all … do, use an infinitive with or without to. After a left-hand part containing want, ask for or need, the focus is usually a noun phrase or infinitive. Its form must complete the left-hand meaning logically.

All I want is to sleep.

A to-infinitive.

All I want is for you to be happy.

For + subject + to V.

All I need is that you confirm by Friday.

A that-clause in a more formal style.

7. Choosing the device: register and boundaries

All explicitly presents the named content as everything needed in the relevant context. A what-cleft does not contain this limiting word, but can also receive an exhaustive reading. What I need is a break does not assert that other needs necessarily exist.

A thing-cleft sounds conversational. An all-cleft works in both formal and informal registers: vocabulary such as require or request and uncontracted forms can make it fully formal. A reason-cleft is neutral.

This lesson covers all/the thing/the reason + be + focus. Wh-clefts with what and reversed patterns with initial focus have their own rules; they appear here only for comparison.

What I need is a break.

What highlights the need. The form alone does not establish whether there are other needs in the situation.

All I need is a break.

All limits the relevant need to this one item.

All we request is a written reply.

Formal vocabulary preserves the exclusive meaning in an official letter.

Common mistakes

Incorrect:All what we expect is a reply by Friday.

Correct:All we expect is a reply by Friday.

Do not use what after all in the standard pattern. Use all + subject + verb; relative that is also possible.

Incorrect:The thing what annoys me is the noise.

Correct:The thing that annoys me is the noise.

After thing, use that or which rather than what.

Incorrect:All the guide did was explained the route.

Correct:All the guide did was explain the route.

After be, the focused verb has no past-tense ending. A to-infinitive is also possible.

Incorrect:The thing that bother them is the delay.

Correct:The thing that bothers them is the delay.

Relative that is the subject, so the verb agrees with singular thing.

Incorrect:The reason we left are that it rained.

Correct:The reason we left is that it rained.

Be agrees with singular reason, not with the clause following it.

Sources

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