Grammar-Quizzes › Clauses › Subord Clauses › Cleft Clauses
Cleft Clauses ("word packaging")
Relocate information in a clause for emphasis
Basic vs. Cleft Clause
| BASIC CLAUSE | ||
|---|---|---|
In a basic sentence, no particular emphasis is expressed. Clefting a clause is a means of splitting the clause and moving the content before or after the predicate to produce a particular effect. |
||
| SUBJECT | VERB | OBJECT |
Michael Jackson |
wanted |
success. |
| CLEFT (SPLIT) CLAUSE | ||
|---|---|---|
A cleft with what groups information before or after the predicate so that emphasis can be placed elsewhere in the clause. This emphasized content is joined to the de-emphasized content with be. |
||
| GROUPED iNFORMATION | BE | EMPHASIS |
What he wanted |
was |
success. |
| EMPHASIS | GROUPED iNFORMATION | |
Success
|
was
|
what he wanted. |
what = that which— that (pronoun) + which (relative pronoun) that which / the thing that / the part that / the element that
"We can emphasize particular words and expressions by putting everything into a kind of relative clause except the words we want to emphasize: this makes them stand out." The words to be emphasized are joined to the relative clause by is or was.(Swan 130)
(Huddleston 16 §9.1-3) (Biber 11.6.2) (Swan 130)
Related pages That-Subject Clauses, What-Subject Clauses,
What Phrases
Relocate or isolate lengthy wording for emphasis
Creating emphasis or weighting content
| LENGTHY CONTENT | |
|---|---|
Speakers commonly use a what phrase (1) to move lengthy wording to the end of the clause (also called "weighting") or (2) to emphasize the wording that will follow. |
|
| LENGTHY SUBJECT | PREDICATE |
His attention to detail and his ability to think outside-of-the-box and delight audiences |
was¹ brilliant. distinguished² his work. |
| SUBJECT | LENGTHY PREDICATE |
He |
exceeded our expectations and pushed performance art to a new level. |
| WHAT–PHRASE | ||
|---|---|---|
Lengthy wording is moved to the end the clause by placing everything else in a what phrase at the beginning of the clause. |
||
| WHAT-PHRS PACKAGE | BE | EMPHASIS |
What was brilliant What distinguished his work |
was
|
his attention to detail and his ability to think outside-of-the-box and delight audiences. |
| WHAT-PHRS PACKAGE | VERB EMPHASIS | |
What he did |
was |
exceed our expectations and push performance art to a new level. |
what (fused relative) – that (pronoun) + which (relative pronoun) That which he did was…
distinguish (V) – mark off as different.
exceed (V) – to go beyond, be better, be more
isolate (V) – place as separate or alone
¹ ascriptive be – the adjective that follows be describes or indicates a quality or characteristic of the noun phrase before be. Michael Jackson was brilliant. (The two elements are not reversible. The descriptive word comes after "be".)
² specifying be – the noun phrase after distinguish identifies or defines the the noun phrase before the verb. The two noun phrases on either side of the verb are reversible: X = Y and Y = X). Michael Jackson was the King of Pop. / The King of Pop was Michael Jackson.
"It" Clefts
Emphasize identity
It Cleft
| BASIC CLAUSE | |
|---|---|
In a basic sentence, no particular emphasis is expressed. However, if a question were asked, for example, "Who popularized the moon-walk step?" one would use a cleft sentence to answer. |
|
| SUBJECT | PREDICATE |
Michael Jackson |
popularized the moon-walk step. |
His performances |
attracted fans. |
The video Thriller |
broke all records. |
| IT–CLEFT CLAUSE | |
|---|---|
An it-cleft places the content that we wish to emphasize up front. The rest of the content is "packaged" into that + a clause. The be verb is singular. |
|
| EMPHASIS | THAT–CLAUSE |
It was Michael Jackson |
who popularized the moon-walk step. |
It was his performances
|
that attracted fans. |
It was the video Thriller |
that broke all records. |
It is a pronoun, here, and has no particular meaning other than being a placeholder for the displaced content.
~ awkward sounding
complement: elements required by the verb: object, indirect object, predicative complement
choreography (N) – the art of sequencing dance steps
Related pages It-Subject Placeholder, That-Clauses, It seems, occurs, is likely
Grammar Notes: (Huddleston 16 §9.1-3, 11 §4.1).
"It" Extraposition
Relocate lengthy wording to end of clause
It Extraposition
| BASIC CLASE | |
|---|---|
Speakers commonly reword a sentence that begins with that + clause. They prefer to move a lengthy subject to the end of the clause and to use an it cleft. |
|
| THAT–CLAUSE | PREDICATE |
~ That he had so much energy |
impressed everyone. (clause) |
~ That he did his own choreography |
was impressive. (Adj) |
~ That he is no longer with us |
is a pity. (NP) |
| IT–EXTRAPOSITION | |
|---|---|
It displaces the subject to the end of the clause. It, a "dummy pronoun", is a placeholder for the content moved to the end of the clause. |
|
| IT – CLEFT SENTENCE | THAT–CLAUSE |
It impressed everyone |
that he had so much energy. |
It was impressive |
that he did his own choreography. |
It is a pity |
that he is no longer with us. |
It is a pronoun, here, and has no particular meaning other than being a placeholder for the displaced content.
~ awkward sounding
complement: elements required by the verb: object, indirect object, predicative complement
choreography (N) – the art of sequencing dance steps
Related pages: It-Subject Placeholder, It seems, occurs, is likely, That-Clauses.
Grammar Notes: (Huddleston 16 §7.1 and §9.1-3) (Huddleston 11 §4.1).
Wh- Clefts
Emphasize content with relative clauses
Who, where, when, why relative clauses
| BASIC SENTENCE |
|---|
Who, where, when or why (relative pronouns) is also used to shift focus to a particular part of a sentence. These are not true clefts because the wh-words do not repackage or isolate content. |
| PERSON |
Michael Jackson thrilled his audiences. |
| PLACE |
Michael Jackson lived on Neverland Ranch. |
| TIME |
Michael Jackson performed "Thriller" in 1982. |
| REASON |
Michael Jackson wrote songs because he was inspired. |
| RELATIVE CLAUSE EMPHASIS |
|---|
Below, who, where, when, or why functions as a relative pronoun joining a clause that modifies the preceding noun — the man who, the place where, the time when, the reason why, and so on. |
| WHO – CLEFT |
Michael Jackson was a person who thrilled his audiences. A person who thrilled his audiences was Michael Jackson. "reciprocal property" (phrases may go on either side of "be") |
| WHERE – CLEFT |
Neverland Ranch was the place where Michael Jackson lived. The place where Michael Jackson lived was Neverland Ranch. |
| WHEN – CLEFT |
Nineteen eighty two was the year when Michael Jackson performed "Thriller". The year when Michael Jackson made "Thriller" was 1982. |
| WHY – CLEFT |
Because he was inspired was the reason why¹/that Michael Jackson wrote songs. The reason why/that Michael Jackson wrote songs was because he was inspired. |
awe (V) – to have an overwhelming feeling of admiration and respect.
"The reason why" is awkward due to its repetition in expressing "reason". Instead, consider using "the reason that"
Related pages: In/ On/ At–Which Clauses and "be" reciprocal property.
Common Mistakes
Errors and Solutions
Error and Solution
| ERROR |
|---|
*It was the Prime Minister made that statement. |
"What was that, a bomb?" ~ "No. What it was was a meteor hitting the ground." (What is was] turned out to be a meteor. |
| SOLUTION |
|---|
It was the Prime Minister who made that statement. |
No, what it was, was a meteor hitting the ground. [comma] Optionally add a comma to separate a repeated word so that its use looks intentional rather than accidental (e.g., He let the cat in, in the morning.) In speech this repetition of a word (with a different sense of meaning) is expressed with a brief pause. |
* incorrect / ~ awkward
Grammar Notes (Advanced)
Traditional and Linguistic Description
Traditional / ESL and Linguistic Descriptions
| BIBER / SWAN | HUDDLESTON ET. AL. |
|---|---|
Biber et al. Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (1999) (Biber 11.6) "Clefting is similar to dislocation in the sense that information that could be given in a single clause is broken up, in this case into two clauses, each with its own verb… There are two major types of cleft constructions…" it-cleft: What-cleft: |
Huddleston et al. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (2002) (Huddleston (16 § 9.1-4.2) There are two main types of cleft clause, it-clefts and pseudo-clefts, with the latter category having basic and reversed versions. a) I bought a dog. [non-cleft] (16 § 9.2) Both forms, it-clefts and pseudo-clefts include the specifying use of be. |
Swan, Michael. "Clefts sentences." Practical English Usage (2009) (Swan 131.1-5) "We can emphasize particular words and expressions by putting everything into a kind of relative clause except the words we want to emphasis: this makes them stand out." (Swan gives several examples, some of which are paraphrased below.) i. A dog is the thing I want. |
Both forms, it-clefts and pseudo-clefts include the specifying use of be. (16 §9.3) (4 §5.5.1) Ascriptive be (predicate complement) denotes a property and characteristically has the form of an adjective phrase (AdjP) or a non-referential noun phrase (NP). The subject is referential: Michael Jackson was brilliant. [a quality] Specifying be (predicate complement) defines or identifies the subject. Michael Jackson was the King of Pop. [identity] The use of specifying be allows the clause to be reversed:
But not:
|
| TREE DIAGRAM OF SIMPLE SENTENCE | TREE DIAGRAM OF (PSEUDO) CLEFT SENTENCE |
His energy amazed me.
|
His energy was what amazed me.
|
Word Categories: N – Noun; V – Verb; Aux – Auxiliary; Adj – Adjective; Adv – Adverb; P –Preposition; Det –Determiner.
Phrasal Categories: NP – Noun Phrase; VP – Verb Phrase; AdjP – Adjective Phrase; AdvP – Adverb Phrase; PP – Prepositional Phrase; DP – Determinative Phrase.
Clausal Categories: Cls – clause; F – finite clause; NF – nonfinite clause (Ger – gerund; Inf – infinitive; PPart – past participle).
Word Functions: Subj – subject; Pred – predicate/predicator; Comp – complement: an element or elements required by a word or structure to complete its meaning in the clause (e.g., DO – direct object; IO – indirect object; PP - prep. phrase); Adjunct – adjunct: elements not required by an expression to complete its meaning (Subord – subordinator; Coord – coordinator); Supl – supplement: a clause or phrase added onto a clause that is not closely related to the central thought or structure of the main clause.
Works Cited
- Huddleston, Rodney D., and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002.
- Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.
Practice 1
Starting the Band
Read the reworded paragraph for errors.
Original
The J Street Band got together in an interesting manner. Lead singer Jeremy put the band together. He held a blind audition for interested musicians. The person he chose was surprising. He selected a guitarist who was 70-years old. His age made no difference—the guy rocked!
What makes a band successful is hard to say. That the fans like the band's songs and style matters most. Both talent and hard work are required. Most people don't realize how long musicians work in the shadows before achieving recognition.
Reworded (with errors)
How the J Street Band got together is an interesting story. It was lead singer Jeremy put the band together. What he did was held a blind audition for interested musicians. It surprising who he chose. The guitarist who he selected was 70-years old. It made no difference he was older—the guy rocked!
It hard to say what makes a band successful. What matters most is that the fans like the band's songs and style. What is required are both talent and hard work. What most people don't realize is how long musicians work in the shadows before achieving recognition.
achieve (V) – reach (a goal)
in the shadows (expression) – not in the spotlight of fame
recognition (N) – having others note the accomplishments of someone
talent (N) – skill, experience, natural and practiced ability
Is the sentence grammatically correct or incorrect?
- Select your response.
- Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "Check 1-10" button at the bottom, or click the check button to the left as you go.
Practice 2
Doing What They Love
Select the wording that can complete the sentence.
- Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
- Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check" button.
Practice 3
Placing emphasis on different parts of a sentence
Reword the sentence.
- Rewrite the sentence to a sentence beginning with the given word.
- Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check" button to the right.