Cleft Sentences

 We use cleft sentences to emphasise a noun (and sometimes a verb) in a

sentence.
 They are a way of adding emphasises through using a clause instead of a verb.
 The cleft structure, which is independent, always has a form of the verb to be
as the main verb.

Michael bought a ticket It was Michael who bought a ticket for the baseball game at the Yankees stadium last
for the baseball game at Saturday.
the Yankees stadium last
Saturday.
Mr Oldham flew from It was last Friday that Mr Oldham flew from New York to London.
New York to London last
Friday.
Chris found a gold The thing that Chris found in the forest last week was a necklace.
necklace in the forest last
week.
Laura watched a The day when Laura watched a documentary about space was last Saturday.
documentary about space
last Saturday.

Exercise A

Transform the first sentence by changing it to a cleft sentence. Use the word in bold in the cleft structure.

1. Mr Green has offered us a lot of money for the property.

It was _________________________________________________________________________.
2. The dog broke the window in the conservatory last month.
The time _______________________________________________________________________.
3. George Lazenby starred in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969.
It was _________________________________________________________________________.
4. The terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre happened in New York City.
The place ______________________________________________________________________.
5. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876.
The thing ______________________________________________________________________.
6. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia in June, 1914.
It was _________________________________________________________________________.
7. Rio de Janeiro hosted the twenty-ninth Olympic Games in 2016.
The event ______________________________________________________________________.

Cleft Sentences with Verbs

Ordinary sentences
David repaired the computer.
Andrea updated our security
system.
Michael should study harder.
Mrs Morris can speak Dutch.
Laura gives people legal advice.
Shane has created some new
software.
Cleft sentence emphasizing verb (subject + main verb + complement)
What David did was (to) repair the computer.
What Andrea did was (to) update our security system.
What Michael should do is (to) study harder.
What Mrs Morris can do is (to) speak Dutch.
What Laura does is (to) give people legal advice.
What Shane has done is (to) create some new software.
Task 2

Rewrite the sentences as cleft sentences.

Thomas bought a plane ticket on the internet last Thursday.

(The person) __________________________________________________________________________________

(The object) ___________________________________________________________________________________

(The time) _____________________________________________________________________________________

Paul should see a doctor because he is feeling unwell.

(The person) __________________________________________________________________________________

(The action) ___________________________________________________________________________________

(The reason) ___________________________________________________________________________________

Task 3

Rewrite the sentences as cleft sentences using the phrases in brackets.

1. I liked the way the train company handled our complaint. (The thing that)
______________________________________________________________________________________.
2. Mrs Bates told me the news about the strikes at the airport. (The person who)
______________________________________________________________________________________.
3. The Beatles came from a city called Liverpool. (The city where)
______________________________________________________________________________________.
4. She moved to the countryside to improve her health. (The reason why)
______________________________________________________________________________________.
5. Mr Baker designed the bus station in the city centre. (It was)
______________________________________________________________________________________.
6. The company offered Mr Sampson a bonus for his hard work. (What the company did)
______________________________________________________________________________________.
7. The company closed last December. (The month that)
______________________________________________________________________________________.
8. Jack parked his car in the director’s parking space. (It was)
______________________________________________________________________________________.