CLEFT SENTENCES

• 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:

• When a personal subject is the focus, we can use who instead of that.  We often omit who in informal situations when it is the object of the verb:

• --It was my husband who (or that) you spoke to on the phone.  (or It was my husband you spoke to on the phone.)---



EMPHASIS: It was his performances

In these sentences WHAT means THE THING(S) THAT. The WH-clause must contain a verb. In these structures, we can use an infinitive with or without to.Wh-cleft sentences are most often introduced by what, but we can also use why, where, how, etc

EMPHASIS ON THE ACTION:

Mike took Sally to the party on Saturday.

What Mike did was (to) take Sally to the party

We can focus on an element of the sentence by using these structures with a relative clause. We use the relative pronouns in the same way we use them in any relative clause.