Cleft sentences (it was... / what I need is...)

A cleft sentence takes one plain sentence and splits it into two clauses, so that one particular piece of information gets the spotlight. English has two common patterns for this: starting with It was/is... or starting with What....

Quick shortcut: Maria called me is neutral. It was Maria who called me pushes Maria into the spotlight — same information, different focus.

It-clefts: It was/is + the emphasised part + that/who

The it-cleft pattern is: It + be + the emphasised information + that/who + the rest of the sentence. It can emphasise almost any part of a sentence — the subject, the object, a time, or a place:

With a person, both who and that are used in everyday English (It was Maria who called / It was Maria that called). With a thing, time, or place, use that, never who: ✅ It was the phone call that surprised me, never ❌ It was the phone call who surprised me.

What-clefts: What... is/was + the emphasised part

The what-cleft (also called a pseudo-cleft) puts a What-clause first, acting as the subject, followed by be and the emphasised information:

• I need a break. → What I need is a break.
• His reaction surprised me. → What surprised me was his reaction.
• She wants to travel more. → What she wants is to travel more.

A what-cleft usually emphasises a thing, an action, or an idea — not the person who did something. To emphasise who did something, an it-cleft is the natural choice: ✅ It was Maria who called, not ❌ What called me was Maria.

All can replace What for a slightly narrower, "nothing more than this" feel: All I need is a break (compare the plainer What I need is a break).

Choosing between the two

It-clefts are the more flexible tool — they can spotlight a subject, an object, a time, or a place. What-clefts are narrower: they spotlight a thing, action, or idea that answers the implicit question in the What-clause (What do you need? → What I need is...), so they don't usually spotlight the person who did something, or the exact time something happened — an it-cleft is the natural choice there instead: It was yesterday that Maria called me.

Common mistakes

• ❌ It was Maria which called me. → ✅ It was Maria who called me. (which is for things, never people)
• ❌ What I need it is a break. → ✅ What I need is a break. (no extra it — the What-clause is already the subject)
• ❌ What called me was Maria. → ✅ It was Maria who called me. (a what-cleft doesn't naturally spotlight a person)
• ❌ It was yesterday who Maria called me. → ✅ It was yesterday that Maria called me. (who is only for people; times and places take that)

Quick check

Rewrite each sentence as a cleft sentence, emphasising the word or phrase in brackets.

1. Tom broke the window. (Tom — it-cleft)
2. I really need some sleep. (some sleep — what-cleft)
3. We're meeting at the café. (at the café — it-cleft)
4. The delay annoyed her the most. (the delay — what-cleft)

Key takeaways

• Cleft sentences split one plain sentence into two clauses to spotlight a single piece of information.
• It-clefts (It was/is + emphasised part + that/who) are flexible — they can emphasise a subject, an object, a time, or a place. Use who or that for people; for things, times, and places, use that, never who.
• What-clefts (What... is/was + emphasised part) spotlight a thing, action, or idea — not the person who did something.
• All can replace What in a what-cleft for a slightly narrower feel (All I need is...).
• Both patterns keep the same basic event or information as the plain sentence, but change what's in focus — and an it-cleft in particular can carry a contrastive feel ("it was Maria, not someone else, who called").