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Cleft Sentences Grammar and Exercises b1 Over Grammar Drills 129973
Cleft Sentences Grammar and Exercises b1 Over Grammar Drills 129973
B1 over
Cleft sentences
• A cleft sentence is a sentence that is
cleft (split) so as to put the focus on one
part of it.
1. It + be + relative clause + that/who clause
• The sentence starts “it is/was/could have been”. Next is the relative clause. The
relative clause is emphasised by its placement here. The sentence ends with a
that/who clause.
• “John stole a book from the library last week”.
• • It was *John* who stole a book from the library last week
• The new information is the subject. We already knew that a book was stolen and now
we know that John is the thief.
• • It was *a book* that John stole from the library last week
• The new information is the object. We already knew that John took something from
the library last week and now we know it was a book.
1. It + be + relative clause + that/who clause