Cleft sentences. It + be + phrase + defining relative clause Cleft sentences (also called it-clefts) are the result of changing the normal sentence pattern to emphasise a particular piece of information. The emphasis in the resulting cleft sentence is on the phrase after it + be. Look at the following example: János Irinyi invented the non-explosive match in 1836. We can transform this sentence in different ways depending on which part of it we want to bring into focus: It was János Irinyi who/that invented the non-explosive match in 1836.It was the non-explosive match which/that/(-) János Irinyi invented in 1836.
In the clauses that follow it + be + phrase, we can use the same relative pronouns (who, whom, whose, which, that) and relative adverbs (where, when, why) that we normally use in defining relative clauses. However, if we bring a whole adverbial phrase into focus, we use that: It was in 1836 that János Irinyi invented the non-explosive match. It was him who invented the non-explosive match in 1836. WORD FORMATION. FCE exercises. From January 2015, the FCE reading and use of English exams will be combined to make a single exam. Parts 1-4 are very similar to the old Use of English paper, and parts 5-7 are reading texts, again very similar to the previous reading exam (see the Cambridge FCE website for details and some official practice). As before, one of the best things you can do to prepare is lots and lots of reading - books, magazines, blogs - anything to give you a 'feel' for the language.
What's involved in the different parts of the exam? Essential FCE grammar Vocabulary: Word Formation Vocabulary: Phrasal Verbs Don't get too stressed about phrasal verbs. Vocabulary: Expressions Vocabulary: Collocations If you are doing the exam in the next few months, you should really be looking at past papers too. Click on the books to explore these and other FCE books on Amazon (and to give me a small commission if you decide to buy anything!) This page is still under construction, so keep checking for more activities. Colour Idioms | Learn English | Idioms. The Cambridge CAE Course: Self-study student's book - Mary Spratt, Lynda B. Taylor. English Advanced 2: Ready for CAE p 115. Cleft Sentences. Extra Practice. How To Start Your Own Country - S1E1.avi. Random Idea English: Emphasis - Focussing with cleft sentences. We sometimes use constructions called cleft sentences when we want to focus on a particular part of the sentence. These are used both in written and spoken English.
There are two main types of cleft sentence, it- clefts and what- clefts (and a variation of what-clefts, all-clefts). What- clefts and variations on them are often referred to as pseudo clefts. Read all about clefts and try some exercises. Introduction What a cleft sentence does is to cleave (split or divide into two) a sentence into two parts in order to emphasise one of the parts (underlined). Warsaw Will writes this blog.
It's Warsaw Will who writes this blog.it-cleft - uses a type of defining relative clauseWhat Warsaw Will does is write this blog.wh-cleft - uses a type of nominal relative clause If we want to emphasise nouns and other parts of a sentence other than finite verbs, we can use an it-cleft. If we want to emphasise finite verbs or actions, we need to use a wh-cleft. What's a nominal relative clause? Other wh-clefts. Cleft Sentences. Cleft Sentences: shifting focus to another sentence part. Shifting focus to another sentence part Basic vs. Cleft Clause what = that which that (pron.) + which (relative pron.) 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) Resources – (Huddleston 16 §9.1-3) (Biber 11.6.2) (Swan 130) Related pages That-Subject Clauses, What-Subject Clauses Emphasizing & weighting Creating emphasis or weighting content what (fused relative) – [that (pron.) + which (rel. pron.)] ¹ ascriptive be – indicates a quality or characteristic of the predicate complement.
Emphasizing identity It-Cleft Related page It-Subject Clauses (Huddleston 16 §9.1-3), That-Clauses (Huddleston 11 §4.1) Weighting content It–Extraposition Emphasis with relative clauses Who, where, when, why Also see In/ On/ At–Which Clauses Advanced. Cleft sentences. Cleft Sentences+Exercises. E.O.I. 5th YEARUNIT 5: Cleft sentences I want a new coat for Christmas. All I want for Christmas is a new coat. A new coat is all I want for Christmas. I touched the bedside light and it broke. did was (to) touch the bedside light and itbroke.Finally, we can also use preparatory it in cleftsentences and join the words that we want to focus onto the relative clause with that who or when .In the example which follows, note how thisconstruction enables us to focus on different aspects of the information, which may be important at the time: It is/was They are formed with the following structure: My brother bought his new car from our next-doorneighbour last Saturday.
It was my brother who bought his new carfrom our neighbour last Saturday. It was last Saturday when my brother boughthis new car from our neighbour. It was a new car that my brother bought fromour neighbour last Saturday. It was our next-door neighbour that mybrother bought his new car from last Saturday. Cleft structures include the reason why the thingthat.