CLEFT SENTENCES

Cleft sentences (It was in June we got married.)

It + be + phrase + defining relative clause

Cleft comes from the verb to cleave, meaning to divide into two. Syn: split

Cleft sentences are divided into two clauses. Each clause has its own verb.

There are different types of cleft sentences. The most common types are the IT sentence (1) patterns and the WH sentence patterns (2). We will focus on these two types of cleft sentence patterns in this lesson.

Cleft sentences (also called it-clefts) result from changing the normal sentence pattern to emphasise a particular piece of information. The emphasis in the resulting cleft sentence is on the phrase after it + be.
Look at the following example:

János Irinyi invented the non-explosive match in 1836.

We can transform this sentence in different ways depending on which part of it we want to bring into focus:

It was János Irinyi who/that invented the non-explosive match in 1836.
It was the non-explosive match which/that/(-) János Irinyi invented in 1836. 
It was 1836 when János Irinyi invented the non-explosive match

We use cleft sentences, especially in speaking, to connect what is already understood to what is new to the listener. In a cleft sentence, a single message is divided (cleft) into two clauses. This allows us to focus on the new information.

(1) It-cleft sentences

It-clauses are the most common type of cleft clause. The information that comes after it is emphasised for the listener. The clause which follows the it-clause is connected using that and it contains information that is already understood. We often omit that in informal situations when it is the object of the verb:

It's the people who try to be clever who never are; the people who are clever never think of trying to be.

It’s a lack of clarity that /which creates chaos and frustration.

It's pessimism that /which clouds our visión

It is not a lack of love, but (rather) a lack of friendship that breaks a relationship / that makes unhappy marriages.

 It's not a lack of strength, lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will that stops many / that's the problema

(2) Wh-cleft sentences (What I need is a holiday)

Wh-cleft sentences are most often introduced by what, but we can also use why, where, how, etc. The information in the wh-clause is typically old or understood information, while the information in the following clause is new and in focus:

What is most essential is invisible to the eye.

It's disappointing to miss the target but what is most important is we keep / to continue improving