Cleft sentences
Cleft sentences (It was… / What…)
Emphasize what really matters! Learn cleft sentences — It was John who…, What I need is… — and sound like a natural speaker.
What is a cleft sentence?
👉 Sometimes a normal sentence is not enough — you want to highlight ONE piece of information.
Tom broke the vase. — neutral
👉 In a cleft sentence we split the sentence in two parts, so the important element stands out:
It was Tom who broke the vase. (not Mary!)
What Tom broke was the vase. (not the window!)
It-cleft
It + be + emphasized element + who/that + rest
It was my mother who taught me to cook.
It was in Paris that we first met.
It was the price that scared the customers.
👉 Use who for people, that for things/places/times — that works everywhere.
👉 The verb agrees with it: It was the students who… (not were).
Wh-cleft (What…)
What-clause + be + emphasized element
What I need is a cup of coffee.
What she loves most is the silence.
What happened was that we missed the train.
👉 Variants: All (that)… All I want is peace. · The thing (that)… The thing I hate is queuing.
👉 The verb after the what-clause is usually singular: What we need is…
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Read the full lesson content and practice the material in interactive exercises designed for the lesson "Cleft sentences" (Cleft sentences (It was… / What…)) — make progress in your language skills!
