# Emphasis and Cleft Sentences

https://langs123.com/en/english/sentence-building/cleft-sentences/
CEFR B2–C2 · 2026-10-19 · CC BY 4.0, langs123 contributors (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

> Emphatic do, it-clefts and wh-clefts put one part of a sentence in focus. A cleft puts the focus after be and the rest of the sentence in a clause: It was Tom who broke the window. What I need is a holiday.

## Cheatsheet

| Point | Rule | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Emphatic do | do / does / did + base verb carries the stress | She did tell me. |
| It-cleft | It + be + focus + who / that + clause | It was Tom who broke it. |
| Wh-cleft | What + clause + be + focus; or reversed: focus + be + what + clause | What I need is a holiday. |
| Noun frames | all, the thing, the reason and the place open the clause | All I want is peace and quiet. |
| Clause as focus | the focus can be a clause: only when, not until, because | It was only when she left that I realised. |
| Explanatory cleft | rejects one reason and gives the real one | It isn't that I don't like her; it's that I'm busy. |
| Answers | a cleft answers a wh-question; the main stress falls on the focus | Who broke it? — It was Tom. |
| Infinitive focus | after a form of do, the focus is a bare or to-infinitive | All you have to do is (to) press the button. |
| Stance frames | the fact is, the thing is and similar frames open a statement | The trouble is that the shop closes at five. |
| Formal writing | formal clefts point back to a reason or a context | It is for this reason that the committee refused. |
| Topic first | the topic comes first, then a clause with its own subject | As for Tom, he has gone home. |
| Trap | who or that replaces the focus: no second subject or object | It was Ana that I met. |

## Overview

- A cleft sentence puts one part of a clause in focus, after a form of be. It was the bus that I missed.
- The focus carries the new, corrected or contrasting information; the rest of the clause is known.
- Emphatic do stresses the verb; an it-cleft focuses one element; a wh-cleft leads up to the focus.
- The plain order of the sentence is in Word Order.

## Form: emphatic do

| Form | Pattern | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Present | do / does + base verb | I do like it. / She does know the answer. |
| Past | did + base verb | She did tell me. |
| Imperative | do + base verb | Do sit down. / Do be careful. |

- In statements, be, auxiliary have and modals take the stress themselves, not do. She is late. / I have finished. / He can swim.
- A negative or a question has do already; the stress on do gives the emphasis. I didn't take it.

## Use: emphatic do

| Use | Example |
| --- | --- |
| Contradicts a doubt or a denial | You never help me. — I do help you! |
| Insists that something is true or did happen | I did tell you about the party. |
| Agrees with a point, then adds a but | She did apologise, but it was too late. |
| Adds warmth to an invitation, a hope or a compliment | Do have some cake. / We do hope you can come. / I do like your garden. |

## Form: it-cleft

| Focus | Joiner | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A person as subject | who or that | It was Ana who found the keys. |
| A thing as subject | that | It was the wind that opened the door. |
| An object | that, or no joiner | It was the blue bag that I bought. |
| A time word | that | It was yesterday that I saw her. |
| A prepositional phrase | that | It was in Paris that we met. |

| Sentence | Pattern | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Statement | It + be + focus + that + clause | It was Tom that broke it. |
| Negative | It + isn't / wasn't + focus + that + clause | It wasn't me that broke it. |
| Question | Is / Was + it + focus + that + clause | Was it Tom that broke it? |

- Be shows the time: is for now and general truths, was for the past, will be for the future. It is the manager who decides. / It will be Ana who tells him.
- The joiner stands for the focus inside the clause, so the clause repeats neither subject nor object. It was Tom who broke it.
- A preposition stays with its noun in careful style, or goes to the end in speech. It was to Ana that I gave the key. = It was Ana that I gave the key to.
- The clause after who or that works as a relative clause: see Relative Clauses.

## Form: wh-cleft

| Focus | Pattern | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A noun | What + clause + be + noun | What I need is a holiday. |
| An action | What + subject + do / does / did + be + infinitive | What he did was (to) leave early. |
| A that-clause | What + verb + be + that + clause | What happened was that the bus broke down. |
| Reversed order | noun + be + what + clause | A holiday is what I need. |

- The wh-clause is the subject, so be is usually singular, even before a plural focus. What I need is two weeks off.
- Without do in the clause, the infinitive keeps to. What I want is to sleep.

## Frames: all, the thing, the reason

| Frame | Example |
| --- | --- |
| All + clause + be + focus | All I want is peace and quiet. |
| The thing + (that) + clause + be + focus | The thing that annoys me is the noise. |
| The reason + (why) + clause + be + focus | The reason I left was that the pay was low. |
| The place + (where) + clause + be + focus | The place where we met was a small café. |
| The first thing + clause + be + focus | The first thing I do is make coffee. |

## Use: focus, correction and summing up

| Use | Example |
| --- | --- |
| It-cleft: names the person or thing responsible | It was the neighbours who complained. |
| It-cleft: corrects a detail, often with a negative first | It wasn't the red one I wanted; it was the blue one. |
| Wh-cleft: says what you need, want or like, then names it | What I like most is the quiet. |
| Wh-cleft: builds up to the point of a story | What happened next was that the lights went out. |
| Reversed wh-cleft: sums up or agrees | Yes, that's what I mean. |

## Compare: it-cleft and wh-cleft

| Point | It-cleft | Wh-cleft |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Focus | one element: a subject, an object or an adverbial | a noun, an action or a whole clause |
| Order | the focus comes first, then the clause | the clause comes first, then the focus |
| Example | It was the red scarf that I lost. | What I lost was the red scarf. |
| A person as focus | It was Tom who broke it. | The person who broke it was Tom. |

## Clefts with clauses as focus

| Focus | Example |
| --- | --- |
| only when and a clause | It was only when she left that I realised. |
| only after and a time phrase | It was only after dinner that he called. |
| not until and a time or a clause | It was not until midnight that the rain stopped. |
| because and a clause | It was because he was ill that we cancelled. |
| A phrase of manner, with a passive clause after that | It was by chance that the letter was found. |

- After not until, the verb is positive; not already makes the sentence negative. It was not until May that the shop opened.
- Passive clauses are in Passive Voice.

## Explanatory clefts

| Pattern | Use | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| It isn't that…, it's that… | rejects one reason and gives the real one | It isn't that I don't like her; it's that I'm busy. |
| What…was… | names a strong feeling or effect | What annoyed me most was the delay. |
| What…is… with a question as focus | puts a question at the end | What I'd like to know is why nobody told me. |

## Clefts in questions and answers

| Use | Example |
| --- | --- |
| A cleft answers a question about the doer | Who broke the vase? — It was Tom. |
| A cleft answers a question about time or place | Where did you meet? — It was in Paris. |
| A wh-cleft answers a question about wants | What do you want for your birthday? — What I'd really like is a quiet evening. |
| A question can itself be a cleft | Who was it that called? / What was it that you said? |

- The tonic syllable, the strongest stress, falls on the focus; the clause after it stays low. It was Tom who broke it. ↘

## Infinitive and perfect clefts

| Frame | Example |
| --- | --- |
| All + clause + be + infinitive | All you have to do is (to) press the button. |
| The best thing to do + be + infinitive | The best thing to do is (to) wait. |
| What + clause + be + to have + past participle | What I'd hoped was to have finished by now. |

- When the clause or the frame holds do, the focus infinitive is bare or has to. All I did was ask. / All I did was to ask.
- A perfect infinitive in the focus looks back to a hope or plan that may not have been met.

## Stance frames

| Frame | Use | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The fact is + (that) + clause | states a plain truth against a belief or a hope | The fact is that nobody came. |
| The trouble is + (that) + clause | names the difficulty | The trouble is that the shop closes at five. |
| The point is + (that) + clause | returns to what matters | The point is that we have no time. |
| The thing is + (that) + clause | opens an excuse or a doubt in speech | The thing is, I have no money with me. |

- In speech that drops out and a short pause follows the frame. The thing is, I'm late.

## Formal clefts in writing

| Frame | Use | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| It is for this reason that… | gives a reason already stated | It is for this reason that the committee refused. |
| It is in this context that… | places a point in the setting just described | It is in this context that the new law should be read. |
| What is striking is… | draws the reader to a notable fact | What is striking is how little has changed. |
| What emerges is… | announces a result or a finding | What emerges is a clear pattern. |

- A word such as this or these in the focus links the cleft to the sentence before. It is in these cases that care matters most.

## Topic first

| Frame | Use | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| As for… | turns to a new topic or sets one against another | As for Tom, he has gone home. |
| Speaking of… | links a new topic to something just said | Speaking of money, we should check the budget. |
| The thing about…is… | names the main feature of a person or thing | The thing about him is that he never listens. |
| a noun phrase, then a pronoun | puts the topic first in speech and repeats it as a pronoun | My sister, she lives in Leeds. |

- The comment after the topic keeps its own subject. As for Tom, he has gone home.

## Typical errors

| ✗ | ✓ | Rule |
| --- | --- | --- |
| It was Tom that he broke it. | It was Tom that broke it. | the joiner stands for the subject, so no second subject follows |
| It was the red one that I wanted it. | It was the red one that I wanted. | the joiner stands for the object, so no second object follows |
| It was in Paris where we met. | It was in Paris that we met. | that opens the clause after a time or place focus; where and when do not |
| What I need it is a holiday. | What I need is a holiday. | the wh-clause is the subject, so no it follows |
| She does likes it. | She does like it. | the verb after do, does or did stays in the base form |
| I do am tired. | I am tired. | be takes the stress itself; it does not take do |
| It was not until midnight that did she arrive. | It was not until midnight that she arrived. | the clause after that keeps statement order |
| Who it was that broke the vase? | Who was it that broke the vase? | a cleft question keeps question order: wh-word, be, it |
| All you have to do is pressing the button. | All you have to do is press the button. | the focus after this frame is an infinitive |
| As for Tom, has gone home. | As for Tom, he has gone home. | as for opens a topic; the clause after it has a subject |