Cleft sentences result from changing the normal sentence pattern to emphasise a particular piece of information. We use cleft sentences to:
- connect what is already understood to what is new to the listener, or
- to focus on a particular part of the sentence and to emphasise what we want to say
In
a cleft sentence, a single message is divided (cleft) into two clauses. Because there are two clauses (parts) to the
sentence it is called CLEFT (from the verb CLEAVE) which means divided into
two.
It-clauses are the most common type of cleft clause.
The information that comes after it is emphasised for the listener. The emphasis in the resulting
cleft sentence is on the phrase after it
+ be.
The clause which follows the it-clause is
connected using that and it contains information that is already
understood. We often omit that in informal situations when it is the
object of the verb.
In
the clauses that follow it
+ be + phrase, we
can also use the same relative pronouns (who,
whom, whose, which, that) and relative adverbs (where, when, why) that we
normally use in defining relative clauses.
Examples:
It is my sweater that Lily wore yesterday. → (Focus on sweater)
Lily
wore my sweater (not my skirt) yesterday.
It is yesterday when Lily wore my sweater. → (Focus on yesterday)
Lily
wore my sweater yesterday (not today).
It is Lily who/that wore my sweater
yesterday. → (Focus on Lily)
Lily
(not me) wore my sweater yesterday.
If
we use a personal pronoun after it
+ be, it will be
in the object form.
It is her who/that wore my sweater
yesterday.
Leonardo
Da Vinci painted ‘The Last Supper’ between 1495-1497. (neutral sentence)
It was Leonardo
Da Vinci
who/that painted ‘The Last Supper’ between 1495-1497.
It was ‘The Last
Supper’
that Leonardo Da Vinci painted between 1495-1497.
It was between
1495-1497
when Leonardo Da Vinci painted ‘The Last Supper’.
Einstein
discovered the theory of relativity in Germany in1905. (neutral sentence)
It was Einstein who/that discovered the Relativity
Theory in Germany in 1905.
It was the Relativity
Theory that
Einstein discovered in Germany in 1905.
It was in Germany where Einstein discovered
the Relativity Theory in 1905.
It was in 1905 when Einstein discovered the
Relativity Theory in Germany.
Sources:
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