Emphasis

Different ways to give importance to the new information

for the listener, and not that what is old or known by them.
Cleft sentences
Cleft means divided. The message is divided into two.
1-It-cleft sentences: It+emphasised information+that+old
information
A-Was Michael’s car broken into?
B-No, It was Jane’s car that got broken into?
A-Do you like coffee? B-No, it is tea that I like.
It+emphasised info+who, when
It was my brother who bought the van (not
my sister)
It was last month when my brother bought the
van (not two months ago)
It was the van that my brother bought (not the
car)
2-Use of ‘the reason why’, ‘the thing that’, ‘the person
who/people who’, ‘the place where’, ‘the day when’+ ‘is’ or ‘was’
I’ve come to give you some advice.
The reason why I’ve come is to give you some advice.
Your tenderness impresses me the most.
The thing that impresses me most is your tenderness.
Peter is the person who works hardest in this company.
The person who works hardest in this company is Peter.
Peter is the person in this company who works hardest.
The money is hidden under a tree at Well Field.
The place where the money is hidden is under a tree at Well
Field .
Under a tree at Well Field is the place where the money is
hidden.
The Second World War ended on 7 may 1945 in Europe.
The day (when) the Second World War ended was 7 May
1945.
7 May 1945 was the day (when) the Second World War ended
in Europe.
-Wh-cleftsentences (pseudoclefts)-wh clause (old
information)+verb to be+new information
A-I don’t know the food he prefers.
B-What he prefers is seafood.
My computer is slow.
What you need to do is get a new one.
Frequently used with the verb happen: What happened
was that their car broke down on the motorway.
If the tense in the first clause is continuous, it will go
with gerund in the second: What I am doing is writing an
article.
Wh-cleft –What clauses with do or did
First sentence- no emphasis- Second-emphasised
-She plays the piano.
What she does is (to) play the piano.
-The police arrested him
-What the police did was (to) arrest him.
-You should go to the doctor
-What you should do is (to) go to the doctor.