it + a form of be (+ not and/or adverb) +emphasised word/phrase+ that /which/ who clause

it + a form of be (+ not and/or adverb) +emphasised word/phrase+ that /which/ who clause

We can use this pattern to emphasise the subject or the object of a simple sentence, or an adverbial phrase, or a prepositional phrase:

Sentence	· Mike took Sally to the party on Saturday.
Emphasising the subject	· It was Mike who took Sally to the party on Saturday.
Emphasising the object	· It was Sally (that) Mike took to the party on Saturday.
Emphasising the adverbial	· It was on Saturday (that) Mike took Sally to the party
Emphasising the prepositional phrase	· It was to the party (that) Mike took Sally on Saturday.

In informal English, we can use when and where clauses, but we do not use how or why:

· It was in January when I got the test results.

· It’s in Green Street market where we’ll find the best bargains.

X It was greed why he did it. ✓ It was because of greed that he did it

X It is using a calculator how he does it. ✓ It is by using a calculator that he does it

Note: We cannot use it clefts to highlight the action or a verb complement in a sentence. We use wh- clefts to do this:

X It was taking Sally to the party that Mike did. ✓ What Mike did was take Sally

X It is totally unscrupulous that they are. ✓ What they are is unscrupulous

Wh- cleft Sentences

We can use this pattern to highlight the action in a sentence. For example, if we want to highlight Mike’s action of taking Sally to the party:

wh- clause + a form of be + emphasised word or phrase

· What Mike did was take Sally to the party

In these sentences what means the thing(s) that. The wh- clause must contain a verb. To highlight the action we use a form of do in the wh- clause. The highlighted phrase usually contains a bare infinitive (example above) or to + infinitive:

· What Mike did was to take Sally to the party.

If the highlighted verb is in the continuous or perfect, the form of do matches it:

· The boys aren’t leaving Sandy at home. They are taking him to the match.

· => What the boys are doing is taking Sandy to the match

· Old members are absent but the new members have taken their seats in the assembly.

· => What the new members have done is taken their seats in the assembly

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