Cleft Sentence Flashcards
What clauses
list 3 forms of what clauses
what we talk about isn’t deep and meaningful
What I do if I get stressed** is** talk to my friends
What happens **is **we bottle things up
What clauses
can this kind of cleft sentence begin with..?
where, why, who, how, etc,
How the kids did this is still unclear to me
what clauses
can we put the what clause at the end of the sentence?
yes, The game we played was what I liked the most.
It clauses
emphasise with it clause: you invited me to the party yesterday
It was you who invited me to the party yesterday.
It was yesterday that you invited me to the party
It was the party that you invited me to yesterday
Tips It clauses
who can be used insted of?
In plural nount with IT clause what form of be we use?
We can use an object pronoun after it + be?
that.. It’s Keith who left, not Mark
singular : It’s his friends that I can’t stand
Yes, It’s him that’s always gossiping
Types of cleft senteces
The reason why, the thing that, the person/people who, the place where, the day when
We can focus on an element of the sentence by using these structures with a relative clause. We use the relative pronouns in the same way we use them in any relative clause.
It + be + phrase + relative clause
Instead of the person who, the thing that, etc. we can also use an introductory it, the verb be in any verb tense that we may need, and the element that we want to focus on. give examples
It is/was … that …
Sheila hid the book under the mattress
- The person who/that hid the book under the mattress was Sheila
- The thing (that/which) sheila hid under the mattress was the book
- The place where Sheila hid the book was under the mattress
I have to call on Monday to schedule an appointment
- The day (when/that) I have to call to schedule an appointment is Monday.
- The reason why I have to call on Monday is to schudule an appointment.
the person who, the thing that, etc
it is/was … that …
We can use who/which or that after a noun phrase, e.g. Sheila, the book, etc. But we should use that after adverbial phrases, e.g. under the mattress, on Monday, etc
Note that we can also use when after noun phrases, but not after adverbial phrases. Compare:
t’s Monday when I have to call.
It’s on Monday that I have to call.
The thing/s that = What/All
We can also use what or all (more emphasis) instead of the thing/s that to focus on an element of the sentence
Sheila hid the book under the mattress
1. The thing (that/which) Sheila hid under the mattress was the book.
2. What Sheila hid under the mattress was the book
3. All Sheila hid under the mattress was the book
I want some of that cake.
1. The thing (that/which) I want is some of that cake
2. What I want is some of that cake
3. All I want is some of that cake
What + subject + do/does/did/ + is/was + (to) infinitive
We use this structure when we want to focus on the verb or verb phrase. In these structures, we can use an infinitive with or without to.
Sheila hid the book under the mattress
1. What Sheila did was (to) hide the book under the mattress
2. you should save some money
2. What you should do is save some money
3. He screamed
3. What he did was (to) scream
3. All he did was (to) scream. =more emphasis
What she does is
What happens is (that) … / What happened was (that)
We use this structure when we want to focus on a whole sentence, and not only on an element in the sentence.
- Sheila hid the book under the mattress
- What happened was that Sheila hid the book under the mattress
- He is afraid of losing his investment
- What happens is that he is afraid of losing his investment
What happens is
