Cleft Sentences - Tawjihi Summary Rule

Summary of Cleft Sentence rules (It-cleft and What-cleft) and practical examples for Tawjihi preparation.

Cleft Sentences

A sentence structure divided into two parts to provide focus to a specific piece of information.

It-cleft Structure

$$It + is/was + focus + who/that + rest$$

What-cleft Structure

$$What + clause + is/was + focus$$

Relative pronoun for People

who (preferred)

Relative pronoun for Things/Time/Place

that

Example 1: Focus on Person (Ali)

It was Ali who won the prize.

Example 2: Focus on Object (Dress)

It was the dress that Sara bought.

Example 3: Focus on Time (Friday)

It was on Friday that they met.

Example 4: Focus on Need (Vacation)

What I need is a vacation.

Example 5: Focus on Preference (Chocolate)

What she likes is chocolate.

Example 7: Focus on Place (Petra)

It was Petra that we visited last year.

Example 8: Focus on Time (Night)

It was at night that they arrived.

Example 10: Focus on Want (Money)

What he wanted was money.

Example 12: Focus on Duration/Time (Yesterday)

It was yesterday that they watched the movie.

Example 14: Focus on Requirement (Time)

What we need is more time.

Example 16: Focus on Emotion (Football)

What I love is football.

Example 20: Focus on Location (Park)

It was in the park that the children played.