CLEFT SENTENCES split an idea into two clauses to EMPHASIZE a specific element. IT-cleft emphasizes what follows IT WAS/IS: "It was JOHN who called" (not someone else). WH-cleft emphasizes what follows the verb BE at the end: "What we need IS A CLEAR PLAN" (and not something else).
IT-CLEFT: "It + BE + [emphasized element] + that/who + clause." The EMPHASIZED ELEMENT is the element you want to highlight. "John called yesterday" (no special emphasis). "It was JOHN who called yesterday" (emphasis on WHO called). "It was YESTERDAY that John called" (emphasis on WHEN). "It was THE MANAGER who approved the change" (not someone else). RULES: (1) With PEOPLE: can use WHO or THAT. "It was the director who/that signed the agreement." (2) With THINGS/TIME/PLACE/REASON: use THAT. "It was the new protocol that caused the delay." "It was in 2019 that the company went public." (3) THE VERB IN THE CLEFT CLAUSE: the tense of BE (is/was) depends on the event tense. (4) The verb in the "that/who" clause agrees with the emphasized element.
It was the unexpected deterioration in the credit quality of the company's loan portfolio that ultimately led the board to commission an immediate independent review of the risk management framework.
It was precisely the lack of clear communication between the engineering and commercial teams that caused the project to fall so significantly behind schedule in the second quarter of the implementation.
It was only after conducting a thorough analysis of the competitive landscape that the leadership team fully recognized the extent to which the core product had become commoditized.
WH-CLEFT (PSEUDO-CLEFT): "[WH-clause] + BE + [emphasized element]." The EMPHASIZED ELEMENT appears at the END (after BE). Basic form: WHAT + subject + verb + IS + [emphasized element]. "We need a clear plan" -> "What WE NEED is A CLEAR PLAN" (emphasis on WHAT IS NEEDED). VARIANTS: (1) WHO-cleft: "Who we need to speak to is the CEO." (2) WHERE-cleft: "Where I want to be is in the leadership role." (3) WHEN-cleft: "When it happened was in the final quarter." (4) ALL + THAT: "All I am asking for is a fair hearing." REVERSE WH-CLEFT: the pseudo-cleft can be inverted by putting the emphasized element FIRST: "A clear plan is what we need." Both forms are correct. DIFFERENCE FROM IT-CLEFT: IT-cleft = emphasizes the agent, the time, the place (specific elements within the sentence). WH-cleft = emphasizes the TYPE OF THING that is needed, done, or happened.
What the organization urgently needs at this stage is not additional capital but rather a clearly defined strategic direction and the leadership capability to execute against it consistently.
What surprised the investment committee most was not the scale of the loss itself but the apparent absence of any early warning indicators that might have allowed for timely corrective action.
All the senior management team is asking for is sufficient time and the necessary resources to pilot the new operating model in two regions before committing to a full-scale global rollout.
Common mistake
FREQUENT ERRORS: (1) IT-CLEFT WITHOUT "THAT/WHO": "It was the CEO approved the plan" = INCORRECT. The relative clause (that/who) is OBLIGATORY in it-cleft. "It was the CEO WHO/THAT approved the plan." (2) WH-CLEFT WITH WRONG ORDER: "What is I need a plan" = INCORRECT. Correct structure: "What I need IS a plan" (subject + verb + IS + emphasized element). (3) IT-CLEFT WITH "IT IS" FOR PAST EVENTS: "It is the CEO who signed the agreement last year" = may sound odd for a clearly past event. More natural: "It was the CEO who signed." (4) VERB AGREEMENT IN THAT CLAUSE: "It was the directors who was present" = INCORRECT. The verb agrees with "the directors" (plural): "It was the directors who WERE present."
Trick to remember it
IT-CLEFT vs WH-CLEFT: IT-cleft = emphasizes WHO/WHAT/WHEN/WHERE did something (a specific element of the sentence). WH-cleft = emphasizes WHAT TYPE OF THING is needed/done (the complement of the action). IT-CLEFT FORMULA: IT + WAS/IS + [emphasized element] + THAT/WHO + [rest of sentence]. WH-CLEFT FORMULA: WHAT + [subject] + [verb] + IS + [emphasized element]. REVERSE WH-CLEFT: [emphasized element] + IS + WHAT + [subject] + [verb]. Both are equivalent. CONTRAST TRICK: use it-cleft when you want to contrast with another possibility: "It was JOHN (not Mary) who called." Use wh-cleft when you want to highlight the nature or type of what is done/needed: "What we need is CLARITY (not more data)."
Quick rule
IT-cleft: "It was/is [element] that/who [clause]" = emphasizes who, what, when, where. WH-cleft: "What [subject+verb] is [element]" = emphasizes what type of thing. OBLIGATORY in it-cleft: that/who (cannot be omitted). Agreement: the verb in the who/that clause agrees with the emphasized element. "It was THE CEO who signed" / "It was THE DIRECTORS who signed."
Did you know?
Cleft sentences are one of the most studied phenomena in pragmatic linguistics because they serve as a "window" into how speakers organize the INFORMATION STRUCTURE of discourse. Information theory distinguishes between "given" (information the listener already knows) and "new" (information the listener does not know). Cleft clauses allow speakers to precisely control which information is "given" and which is "new": "John called" presents everything as balanced information. "It was JOHN who called" places "someone called" as given information and "JOHN" as new (emphasized) information. This information organization is crucial for discourse coherence and presupposition accommodation. Linguist M.A.K. Halliday was a pioneer in the systematic study of cleft sentences as a theme/rheme mechanism in systemic functional grammar.
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
"_____ the unprecedented level of regulatory uncertainty that prevented the board from committing to the original timeline, not a lack of capital or operational readiness," the CEO explained in her statement to investors.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
_____ the senior leadership team collectively lacks is not strategic ambition but the operational infrastructure and the organizational capabilities required to translate that ambition into measurable results at scale.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
IT-cleft: "It was/is [element] that/who [clause]" = emphasizes who, what, when, where. WH-cleft: "What [subject+verb] is [element]" = emphasizes what type of thing. OBLIGATORY in it-cleft: that/who (cannot be omitted). Agreement: the verb in the who/that clause agrees with the emphasized element. "It was THE CEO who signed" / "It was THE DIRECTORS who signed."
FREQUENT ERRORS: (1) IT-CLEFT WITHOUT "THAT/WHO": "It was the CEO approved the plan" = INCORRECT. The relative clause (that/who) is OBLIGATORY in it-cleft. "It was the CEO WHO/THAT approved the plan." (2) WH-CLEFT WITH WRONG ORDER: "What is I need a plan" = INCORRECT. Correct structure: "What I need IS a plan" (subject + verb + IS + emphasized element). (3) IT-CLEFT WITH "IT IS" FOR PAST EVENTS: "It is the CEO who signed the agreement last year" = may sound odd for a clearly past event. More natural: "It was the CEO who signed." (4) VERB AGREEMENT IN THAT CLAUSE: "It was the directors who was present" = INCORRECT. The verb agrees with "the directors" (plural): "It was the directors who WERE present."
IT-CLEFT vs WH-CLEFT: IT-cleft = emphasizes WHO/WHAT/WHEN/WHERE did something (a specific element of the sentence). WH-cleft = emphasizes WHAT TYPE OF THING is needed/done (the complement of the action). IT-CLEFT FORMULA: IT + WAS/IS + [emphasized element] + THAT/WHO + [rest of sentence]. WH-CLEFT FORMULA: WHAT + [subject] + [verb] + IS + [emphasized element]. REVERSE WH-CLEFT: [emphasized element] + IS + WHAT + [subject] + [verb]. Both are equivalent. CONTRAST TRICK: use it-cleft when you want to contrast with another possibility: "It was JOHN (not Mary) who called." Use wh-cleft when you want to highlight the nature or type of what is done/needed: "What we need is CLARITY (not more data)."
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy