Lesson 1: Clefts with 'what'

We make cleft sentences to emphasise something in the sentence. Cleft sentences have two parts. The first part is the 'cleft' part, which directs our attention. The second part is the thing we emphasise.  

We can make one type of cleft sentence with 'what + clause + be', and then the thing we want to emphasise. We make the clause from the subject and verb in the original sentence. We can emphasise nouns as well as verb clauses in these structures.

For example:

·       Our readers really loved the happy ending. (normal)

Maybe we want to show that it was surprising that the readers loved the happy ending. In this case, we make the cleft sentence:

·       What our readers really loved was the happy ending. 

In this case we made the past of 'be' because the original sentence was in the past. We can also use 'is/are' if the original sentence is in the present.

Here are some more examples:

·       We were especially looking forward to the dinner party. (normal)

·       What we were especially looking forward to was the dinner party. (Extra emphasis on the dinner party)

·       The children were really afraid of the clown. (normal)

·       What the children were really afraid of was the clown. (Extra emphasis on the clown)

We can also put the thing we emphasise first, and the cleft phrase at the end of the sentence. In this case we use the structure 'the thing we emphasise + be + what + clause'.

·       The happy ending was what our readers really loved.

·       The dinner party was what we were especially looking forward to.

·       The clown was what the children were really afraid of.