Cleft sentences multiplechoice exercise made by carmen luisa complete the sentences so that they have the same meaning as the sentences before them. Cleft sentences interactive and downloadable worksheet. Pseudocleft sentences also called whclefts are similar in function to cleft sentences, but they are formed with the pronoun what the things thatwhich. Make the sentences more emphatic by rewriting them, beginning with the word s in brackets. The cleft sentence is introduced by it, which is followed by a verb phrase whose main verb is generally be. Unit 34 nick turned up late for work on monday because he got stuck in a traf. Hes approaching the problem from an entirely new angle. Cleft sentences are used to help us focus on a particular part of the sentence and to emphasise what we want to say by introducing it or building up to it with a kind of relative clause. This way you give extra emphasis to part of the sentence it was tom who didnt want to come. Cleft sentences look tricky, but youll grasp them quickly. Because there are two parts to the sentence it is called cleft. It could be rewritten as, it was john whom started the lunch line.
Multiple focus and cleft sentences nancy hedberg abstract the information structure of english cleft sentences is discussed. You might want to change your margins and you certainly wont want to print. I ordered a chocolate malt a chocolate malt was what i ordered. These structures are useful in writing because we cannot use intonation for emphasis in written language. Please contact me if you have any questions or ntact me if you have any questions or comments. The information structure of english cleft sentences is discussed. A cleft sentence is a special structure used for emphasizing particular words or phrases.
In spoken language, this focusing is often accompanied by a special intonation in english, a cleft sentence can be constructed as follows. Since the fulcrum forms an equational sentence, whcleft sentences are reversible in most cases. Cambridge cpe, certificate of proficiency in english, paper 3, use of english, part 3, gapped sentences 1 think of one word only which can be used appropriately in all three sentences. The focused part comes next, and then the rest of the sentence is introduced by a relative pronoun, relative determiner, or relative adverb. Luckily nick has a mobile phone so he was able to phone his boss and warn her that he would be late. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. Welcome to esl printables, the website where english language teachers exchange resources. Cleft sentences are complex sentences that are used to emphasise one particular part of a sentence. They are particularly useful in writing where we cannot use intonation for emphasis, but they are also frequently used in speech. Therefore, real cleft sentences are usually done with itclauses.
English esl cleft sentences worksheets most downloaded. This is an advanced grammar exercise when mastered, it will impress english speakers. This makes the sentences more formal and makes the events less likely. Cleft and pseudocleft structures are used to highlight certain bits of information in the sentence. You can do the exercises online or download the worksheet as pdf. Sometimes, inverted sentences take time to comprehend as the auxiliary verb comes before the subject. The basic pattern of a cleft sentence is the following. You can make a teacher copy with answers by clicking on show all, then printing. Doetjes and others published cleft sentences find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Whcleft sentences are most often introduced by what, but we can also use why. The following esl efl resources are available for cleft sentences grammar. Cleft sentences are used to help us focus on a particular part. She was furious but managed to reschedule an important meeting for the afternoon.
The most common types of cleft sentences follow an it or wh pattern. If the police had found out, i would have been in trouble. A cleft sentence is a complex sentence one having a main clause and a dependent clause that has a meaning that could be expressed by a simple sentence. Make sure you clear all before printing student copies.
Exercises usually appear on separate pages, or grouped together on a page. It was my brother that gave the book to ryan yesterday. Transform the following, emphasizing the part of the sentence which has been underlined. Cleft sentences from longman advanced learners grammar.
Whcleft sentences are usually considered pseudocleft because they very often occur in the pattern. Different parts of the sentence can be emphasised in this way. You can practise this topic with the following exercises. Many times when we write we try to highlight or emphasis a particular portion of a sentence. Clefts typically put a particular constituent into focus. Clefting a clause is a means of splitting the clause and moving the content before or after the predicate to produce a particular effect. A grammatical construction with information broken into two clauses, to provide extra focus to one piece of information. They allow us to connect something that is follow understood to something that is new. This work is licensed under a creative commons attribution noncommercial noderivatives 4.
What john did yesterday was steal a book from the library. Watch this course live for free on youtube every thursday at 17 00 gmt 17 00 gmt. A cleft with what groups information before or after the predicate so that emphasis can be. A cleft sentence is a sentence that is cleft split so as to put the focus on one part of it. There are 2 exercises fill in it or what and rewrite the sentences as cleft sentences. Cleft sentences rules and exercises for advanced level.
One way of giving emphasis is by changing the structure of a sentence and using something called a cleft sentence. A cleft sentence consists of two parts, often starting with it or wh. In english, cleft sentences are one of the ways which help the speaker or writer to add emphasis to their sentences. Instead of trying to tease these two respective accounts apart, we argue that the two syntactic strategies do exist and compete for cleft constructions, and hence for estce quequi questions. We will focus on these two types of cleft sentence patterns in this lesson. The purpose is to focus on one part of the clause it was the conservative government that increased the taxes. It can ideally used when students have grasped making relative clauses. Definition of cleftsentence noun in oxford advanced learners dictionary. In a basic sentence, no particular emphasis is expressed.
A cleft sentence divides a proposition into two parts, which are interpreted as an exhaustive focus and a pragmatic presupposition. Wh cleft sentences are usually considered pseudo cleft because they very often occur in the pattern. This handout checks students ability on making cleft sentences. The most common types are the it sentence patterns and the wh sentence patterns. If we were given the sentence, john started the lunch line. If we want to give particular importance to a person, a thing or a clause in a sentence, we can use cleft sentences. Rewrite the sentences using cleft structures with it or what. Cleft sentences adding emphasis page 4 of 4 test english. In a cleft sentence we put everything into a kind of relative clause except the words we want to emphasize.
Whcleft sentences have an embedded question subordinate clause on one side of a form of auxiliary be that acts as a fulcrum was in the example above. We could reform this sentence to put an emphasis on the person that started the line. Cleft sentences it is possible to give special prominence to one element of a sentence by dividing it into two clauses, each with its own verb. A cleft sentence is used to connect known information with new information. Cleft comes from the verb to cleave, meaning to divide into two. A collection of downloadable worksheets, exercises and activities to teach cleft sentences, shared by english language teachers. Cleft sentences and inversion english language gives its users, the liberty to express their thoughts in different ways. What i find amazing is that he cant even fry an egg. We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website, including to provide targeted advertising and track usage. I took a 2 hour lesson today, mostly using this site, on just it cleft sentences. In a cleft sentence, information which could be given in one clause is divided into two parts, each with its own verb. Show all questions she always pretends she hasnt heard me when i ask her to help me.
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