Adding emphasis (1)

Cleft sentences
Use  Focus on a particular part of the sentence.
 “Cleft” (from cleave = divided into two) because
there are two parts to the sentence.
 Frequent both in writing and in speech.
Cleft sentences
What to emphasize
Part of the  What… (the thing that) or All (the only thing that)…
sentence  I need a coffee → What I need is a coffee.
 The person who… The thing that… The place
where… The first/last time that…, The reason why…,
etc. + is/was
 I spoke to the manager → The person (who/that) I
spoke to was the manager.
 It… + relative clause
 A boy in my class won the prize → It was a boy in
my class who won the prize
Cleft sentences
What to emphasize
Whole  What + verb + is/ was…
sentence  What happened was that Lucy moved to London.
What surprised me was the fact that Lucy moved
to London.
What interests me is why Lucy moved to London.