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Cleft sentences ( Emphatic structures)

Cleft means “divided”.In a cleft sentence we express the information which could be
provided by a simple sentence with a complex sentence. This complex sentence is
divided into a main clause and a dependent clause. These two parts have their own verb.

Clefts are typically used to give extra emphasis to a part of the sentence. They are
mainly used in the written language because we cannot give an extra emphasis to a part
of the sentence through the intonation. Although they are very common in spoken
English as well.

English is very rich in cleft constructions.There are different types of CLEFT


Sentences:

1.- IT CLEFT SETECES.

Structure:

It + conjugated form of to be + Emphasized phrase + subordinate


clause

where it is a cleft pronoun and the emphasized phrase is usually a noun phrase
(although it can also be a prepositional phrase, and in some cases an adjectival or
adverbial phrase). For example:

• It is Joey for whom we are looking.( we’re looking for Joey)


• It's money that I love. ( I love Money)
• It was from John that she heard the news. ( She heard the news from John)
• It was John who took the money. ( John took the money)
It was the money that John took. ( John took the money)

SENTENCE Mike took Sally to the party on Saturday


Emphasis on the subject It was Mike who took Sally to the party on Saturday.
Emphasis on the object It was Sally that Mike took the party on Saturday.
Emphasis on the adverb. It was on Saturday that Mike took Sally to the party.
Emphasis on the prep Ph It was to the party that Mike took Sally on Saturday.

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2.- WHAT CLEFT SETECES:

Structure:

WHAT + Clause+ Conjugated to be + Emphasised phrase

In these sentences What means “ the thing(s) that. The emphasized phrase usually
contains a bare infinitive or TO+INF.

* The boys are taking Sandy to the match.  What the boys are doing is taking Sandy
to the match.

* I want a new coat for Christmas  What I want for Christmas is a new coat.

This type of Cleft sentence can change its order and as a result we get the 3rd type.

* He wanted to buy a Fiat.  What he wanted to buy is a Fiat.

3. THE REVERSE WHAT CLEFT SETECE / PSEUDE CLEFT SETECE :

Structure:

Emphasised Phrase + conjugated BE + What clause

* I want a new coat for Christmas  What I want for Christmas is a new coat. 

 A new coat is what I want for Christmas.

It is sometimes very effective to use ALL instead of WHAT in a cleft structure if you
want to focus on a particular thing and nothing else:

4. THE ALL-CLEFT SETECES:

ALL + CLAUSE + Conjugated BE + Emphasized Phrase

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* All he wanted was a Fiat.

* All I want for Christmas is a new coat.

I touched the bedside light and it broke.  All I did was (to) touch the bedside light and
it broke.

There are other types of Cleft sentences such as:

• Inferential cleft It is not that he loves her. It's just that he has a way with her
that is different.
• There-cleft: And then there's a new house he wanted to build.
• If-because cleft: If he wants to be an actor it's because he wants to be famous.

But they’re not as common as the previous ones.

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