[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"grammar-page-en-cleft-sentences-it-clefts-wh-clefts-and-all-clefts":3,"grammar-exercises-by-page-01a0e1ab-d56c-78aa-b897-1469dd6a3315":23,"exercise-list-path-en-none":44},{"id":4,"title":5,"slug":6,"seoDescription":7,"content":8,"language":9,"level":10,"displayOrder":11,"grammarTopics":12,"createdAt":19,"updatedAt":20,"vocabularyLists":21,"readyImages":22},"01a0e1ab-d56c-78aa-b897-1469dd6a3315","Cleft Sentences: It-Clefts, Wh-Clefts and All-Clefts","cleft-sentences-it-clefts-wh-clefts-and-all-clefts","Use it-clefts, wh-clefts and all-clefts to highlight information, correct assumptions and control emphasis, with clear patterns and register guidance.","Cleft sentences divide a message into two parts so that one element receives particular attention. Use **it-clefts**, **wh-clefts** and **all-clefts** to correct assumptions, identify what matters and control how information unfolds.\n\n## 1. Background and focus\n\nA cleft separates **background information** from **focus**: the part the speaker presents as especially important. The background is usually treated as established or something the listener can readily accept; it need not have been mentioned before.\n\nCompare these versions of the same event:\n\n| Sentence | Main focus |\n| --- | --- |\n| Maya sent the revised contract on Friday. | Depends on context and spoken stress |\n| It was **Maya** who sent the revised contract on Friday. | The sender |\n| It was **the revised contract** that Maya sent on Friday. | The document |\n| It was **on Friday** that Maya sent the revised contract. | The time |\n\nThe clefts guide the listener towards a particular contrast. For example, the final sentence could correct the belief that Maya sent the contract on Thursday.\n\n:::note\nClefts often suggest an exclusive contrast: Maya, rather than somebody else. However, do not automatically interpret every cleft as a literal statement containing **only**. Context determines how strong that implication is.\n:::\n\n## 2. It-clefts: identifying a particular element\n\nThe core pattern is **it + a form of be + focus + that\u002Fwho + clause**. The remaining clause contains a gap corresponding to the focused element.\n\n:::example\n**Correcting the identity of the sender:**\n\nA: Did Leo send the contract?\n\nB: No, it was **Maya** who sent it.\n\n**Correcting the location:**\n\nA: Did they meet at your office?\n\nB: No, it was **at the conference** that they met.\n:::\n\nUse **who** or **that** for a person. Use **that** for things and for focused time, place or reason expressions:\n\n- It was **Nadia** who\u002Fthat raised the objection.\n- It is **the cost** that worries me.\n- It was **because the roads were flooded** that we cancelled the trip.\n\nCleft **it** stays singular even when the focus is plural: **It was the neighbours who complained**, not *It were the neighbours*. Within the following clause, agreement follows its own subject: **It is these details that matter**.\n\nChoose the tense of **be** to suit the context; it does not have to mechanically copy the tense of the following verb:\n\n- It **was** Elena who called yesterday.\n- It **is** Elena who will chair tomorrow’s meeting.\n\n:::tip\nFor a clear, neutral written pattern, retain **who\u002Fthat** when it represents the subject: **It was Maya who called**. When the gap is an object, the linker can be omitted, especially in conversation: **It was Maya I called**.\n:::\n\n## 3. Wh-clefts: introducing the key information\n\nA wh-cleft, also called a *pseudo-cleft*, commonly begins with **what**. The **what-clause** establishes a category or issue; the phrase after **be** identifies its content.\n\n**What-clause + be + focus**\n\n| Communicative purpose | Example |\n| --- | --- |\n| Identify a need | What we need is **a clear deadline**. |\n| Explain a reaction | What surprised me was **her calm response**. |\n| Highlight a proposition | What matters is **that everyone has a voice**. |\n| Identify an action | What they did was **cancel the booking**. |\n\nIn **What we need is a clear deadline**, *what we need* means roughly *the thing that we need*. Do not add another **that** before the focused noun phrase.\n\nWhen the what-clause contains **do**, the focused action commonly uses an infinitive **with or without to**:\n\n- What I did was **call the manager**.\n- What I did was **to call the manager**.\n\nDo not extend that choice to every verb. With **want**, for example, retain **to**: **What I want is to leave early**.\n\nFor an action in progress, matching **-ing** forms are natural: **What she is doing is checking the figures**.\n\n## 4. Reversed wh-clefts and information order\n\nA wh-cleft often delays the most important information until the end. Reversing it places that information first:\n\n- What we need is **more time**.\n- **More time** is what we need.\n\nThe first version establishes a question or need before supplying the answer. The second starts with the answer and then connects it to the issue under discussion.\n\n:::example\n**Introducing a solution:**\n\nWe cannot finish the review by Friday. What we need is **more time**.\n\n**Picking up a suggestion:**\n\nA: Would another week help?\n\nB: Absolutely. **More time** is exactly what we need.\n:::\n\nReversing the structure changes information order, not necessarily the basic claim. Spoken stress still matters: sentence structure alone does not determine every aspect of emphasis.\n\n## 5. All-clefts: limiting what is needed or done\n\nAn all-cleft uses **all + clause + be + focus**. Here, **all** means roughly *the only thing* or *everything that is relevant*. It often presents a request, action or result as limited.\n\n| Pattern | Example | Effect |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| All + need\u002Fwant | All we need is **your signature**. | Presents one requirement as sufficient |\n| All + do | All he did was **restart the computer**. | Limits the action described |\n| All + happen | All that happened was **that the lights went out**. | Limits the event described |\n\n**That** is optional in **All (that) we need** and **All (that) he did**. Retain it in the neutral written pattern **All that happened**.\n\nAs with do-based wh-clefts, both infinitive forms are possible: **All you need to do is sign here** \u002F **All you need to do is to sign here**.\n\n:::warning\nAn all-cleft can minimise something that another person considers important. **All I did was make a joke** may sound defensive or dismissive. The construction presents the speaker’s perspective; it does not prove that the action was harmless.\n:::\n\n## 6. Common mistakes and register choices\n\nDo not repeat the focused element inside the remaining clause:\n\n- Incorrect: *It was the final paragraph that I rewrote it.*\n- Correct: It was **the final paragraph** that I rewrote.\n\nDistinguish an it-cleft from a what-cleft:\n\n- Incorrect: *What we need that is more time.*\n- Correct: **What we need is more time**.\n- Correct: **It is more time that we need**.\n\nKeep the intended meaning when choosing between **what** and **all**:\n\n- **What she said was surprising** describes her words; it is not the identifying pattern taught here.\n- **What she said was that the office would close** identifies the content of her statement.\n- **All she said was that the office would close** additionally limits what she said.\n\nClefts occur in both speech and writing. It-clefts are useful for explicit correction; wh-clefts can organise an explanation; all-clefts can simplify a request or minimise an action. None is automatically formal or informal, but repeated clefts can make prose sound unnecessarily emphatic or wordy.\n\n## 7. Choose the right cleft\n\n1. To identify or correct a particular person, thing or circumstance, choose **It is\u002Fwas … that\u002Fwho …**.\n2. To establish an issue and then supply its content, choose **What … is\u002Fwas …**.\n3. To put the answer first, consider **… is\u002Fwas what …**.\n4. To present something as the only relevant need, action or result, choose **All … is\u002Fwas …**.\n\nBefore using a cleft, ask what the reader already accepts and what deserves emphasis. If no special focus is needed, an ordinary sentence may be clearer.","en","C1",97.06,[13],{"id":14,"name":15,"level":10,"language":9,"isCompleted":16,"completionPercentage":17,"totalExercises":18,"completedExercises":17},"01a0e1ab-d502-79bc-956d-ed86abe52282","Clefts and information focus",false,0,2,"2026-09-27T07:02:10+00:00","2026-10-14T10:40:29+00:00",[],[],[24,35],{"@id":25,"@type":26,"id":27,"grammarPage":28,"title":29,"instructions":30,"displayOrder":17,"type":31,"questionCount":32,"blankCount":33,"isCompleted":16,"ogImageUrl":34},"\u002Fapi\u002Fgrammar_exercises\u002F01a0e1ab-d749-7706-a91b-b69f6fdfed11","GrammarExercise","01a0e1ab-d749-7706-a91b-b69f6fdfed11","\u002Fapi\u002Fgrammar_pages\u002F01a0e1ab-d56c-78aa-b897-1469dd6a3315","Cleft Sentences: It-Clefts, Wh-Clefts and All-Clefts — Forms in Context","Choose the option that completes each sentence in context.","word_select",15,17,"\u002Fuploads\u002Fimages\u002Fgpimg_2e7bced4-c657-4324-8e60-d6094bbd35a0_hero.webp?v=1790492530",{"@id":36,"@type":26,"id":37,"grammarPage":28,"title":38,"instructions":39,"displayOrder":40,"type":41,"questionCount":42,"blankCount":42,"isCompleted":16,"ogImageUrl":43},"\u002Fapi\u002Fgrammar_exercises\u002F01a0e1ab-d771-7c09-83b0-dbca8b6d2b80","01a0e1ab-d771-7c09-83b0-dbca8b6d2b80","Cleft Sentences: It-Clefts, Wh-Clefts and All-Clefts — Build the Sentences","Arrange the tiles to build each cleft sentence. Leave out the extra word.",1,"sentence_builder",12,"\u002Fuploads\u002Fimages\u002Fgpimg_5a6cdb00-7fbc-4549-9c21-3d434582ed87_hero.webp?v=1790492530",null]