Cleft Sentence

Language Analysis

A cleft sentence restructures a simple sentence to place focus on one particular element, dividing (cleaving) the message into two clauses. Clefts are a key tool for managing information structure, emphasis, and contrast in English.

Types

It-cleft

Structure: It + be + focused element + relative clause

John broke the window. → It was John who broke the window. (focus on agent)
→ It was the window that John broke. (focus on patient)
→ It was yesterday that John broke the window. (focus on time)

The it-cleft strongly implies contrast or correction: the speaker is asserting one element against alternatives.

Wh-cleft (Pseudo-cleft)

Structure: Wh-clause + be + focused element

What I need is a coffee.
What she did was resign.
What happened was (that) the system crashed.

Wh-clefts typically place the new information at the end, following the Given and New Information principle. They are common in spoken English for structuring explanations.

Reverse wh-cleft

Structure: Focused element + be + wh-clause

A coffee is what I need.
The cost is what concerns me.

All-cleft

All I want is some peace and quiet.
All she did was complain.

Discourse Functions

Cleft sentences serve several communicative purposes:

Contrastive focus: It was the manager, not the staff, who made the decision.
Topic introduction: What I'd like to discuss today is...
Correction: It wasn't me who said that.
Emphasis: It's the grammar that students find hardest. (vs Students find the grammar hardest)

Relationship to Information Structure

Clefts interact directly with Thematic Structure and Given and New Information:

It-clefts place the focused (typically new) element in mid-position, between it was and the relative clause
Wh-clefts follow the given-before-new principle more naturally, building from known to unknown
Both types allow the speaker to override the default information packaging of a simple declarative

Teaching Considerations

Clefts appear frequently in academic writing (It is this approach that..., What the findings suggest is...) and are tested in advanced grammar examinations. Learners often know the form but underuse clefts in production, defaulting to simple sentences that lack the information management clefts provide.

Key teaching points:

Focus on the reason for choosing a cleft over a simple sentence (emphasis, contrast, cohesion)
Practise both recognition (reading) and production (writing and speaking)
Show how wh-clefts function as organisational devices in lectures and presentations