Series ID: EDKS-BASIC-ZH-0074 · Lesson No.074 · B2→C1 Information Focus
Cleft Sentences and Information Focus | 分裂句与信息焦点
It was Mei who found the error.
What I need is more time.
Cleft sentences split one proposition into two parts so the speaker can highlight exactly what matters most. They are useful for contrast, correction, clarification and rhetorical focus.
分裂句的核心不是“把句子变复杂”，而是把焦点放到一个具体信息上：是谁、是什么、什么时候、为什么、哪一部分最重要。
Chinese Edition Hub · 中文版入口 · ← Lesson No.073 · Inversion and Emphasis
The focus map | 焦点路线
- it-clefts
- what-clefts
- all-clefts
- the reason why… is…
- the thing that…
- who/what/when/where focus
- contrast and correction
- spoken emphasis
- register
- Mandarin focus transfer
1. Ordinary sentence | 普通句
Mei found the error yesterday.
2. Focus on person | 强调人
It was Mei who found the error.
3. Focus on object | 强调事物
It was the error that Mei found.
4. Focus on time | 强调时间
It was yesterday that Mei found the error.
5. Core it-cleft pattern | it-cleft 结构
It + be + focus + who/that + remainder.
6. Who for people | who
- It was David who called.
7. That for things/time/place | that
- It was the timetable that caused the confusion.
- It was on Monday that the problem appeared.
8. Clefts for correction | 用于纠正
It wasn’t David who sent the file; it was Anna.
9. Clefts for contrast | 用于对比
It was the timing, not the price, that caused the problem.
10. Focus changes interpretation | 焦点改变读者注意力
The underlying event stays similar, but the sentence tells the listener which part deserves attention.
11. What-cleft | what-cleft
What I need is more time.
Pattern: What + clause + be + focus.
12. What I like is… | 偏好
- What I like about the plan is its flexibility.
13. What matters is… | 重点
- What matters most is whether the evidence supports the claim.
14. What surprised me was… | 反应
- What surprised me was how quickly the team changed its position.
15. What happened was… | 解释事件
- What happened was that the old file was uploaded by mistake.
16. What we need to do is… | 行动重点
- What we need to do is check the source again.
After is, the bare infinitive is common in this pattern.
17. All-cleft | all-cleft
- All I need is ten minutes.
- All we can do is wait.
18. The thing that… | the thing that
- The thing that concerns me is the lack of evidence.
19. The person who… | the person who
- The person who noticed the error was Mei.
20. The reason why… is… | 原因焦点
- The reason why we changed the plan was that the cost had increased.
21. The place where… | 地点焦点
- The place where the problem began was the login page.
22. The time when… | 时间焦点
- The time when the system is most vulnerable is during updates.
23. Reversed wh-cleft | 反向 what-cleft
More time is what I need.
Marked and emphatic; less neutral than What I need is more time.
24. This is what… | this is what
- This is what the evidence actually shows.
25. That’s why… | that’s why
- The sample was too small. That’s why the conclusion remained cautious.
Related focus pattern, though not a classic cleft in every analysis.
26. Spoken discourse | 口语
Clefts are common when speakers correct assumptions:
No, it was Tuesday that we met, not Monday.
27. Argument focus | 论证焦点
- What the study shows is a change in preference, not proof of higher performance.
28. Source correction | 来源纠正
- What the article actually claims is that the method may help some learners.
29. Distinguish proposition from focus | 命题 vs 焦点
Ordinary: The sample size limits the conclusion.
Focused: What limits the conclusion is the sample size.
30. Emphasis through noun phrase | 名词短语焦点
The main issue is reliability.
Sometimes a simple copular sentence is better than a cleft.
31. Don’t over-cleft | 不要每句都分裂
Too many clefts make prose repetitive and artificially dramatic.
32. Use when correction is real | 真正需要纠正时再用
If no contrast exists, ordinary word order is often clearer.
33. It-cleft tense | 时态
- It is Mei who handles the reports.
- It was Mei who found the error.
34. Agreement in remainder | 后半句一致
It is the students who are responsible.
Verb agreement normally follows the noun inside the relative clause.
35. Singular focus + plural remainder | 注意一致
- It is the list of errors that causes confusion.
Identify the true grammatical subject of the relative clause.
36. Question cleft | 问句
- Was it Anna who called?
- What is it that you need?
37. Negative cleft | 否定焦点
- It wasn’t the cost that worried us; it was the deadline.
38. Cleft + contrast pair | 对比成对
What matters is not how much you write, but how clearly the evidence is connected to the claim.
39. Information focus in presentations | 演讲
Clefts help a speaker redirect attention:
- What I want to focus on today is…
- The key point is…
40. Information focus in writing | 写作
Use sparingly at paragraph transitions or when correcting a likely misunderstanding.
41. Mandarin transfer: “真正…的是…” | useful bridge
- 真正重要的是证据。 → What really matters is the evidence.
42. Mandarin transfer: “是…才/就是…” | 不能逐字套
Chinese focus constructions do not map one-to-one onto English it-clefts. Build the English pattern directly.
43. Reading practice A | 阅读 A
It was not the number of lessons that improved performance. What mattered was how consistently learners retrieved and used the language between lessons.
Identify the corrected assumption and the new focus.
44. Reading practice B | 阅读 B
What the survey measured was preference. It was the later performance test that provided evidence about learning outcomes.
Which sentence focuses the measurement? Which focuses the evidence source?
45. Transformation practice | 改写
- Mei found the error. → It was Mei who found the error.
- I need more time. → What I need is more time.
- The deadline worried us. → What worried us was the deadline.
46. De-cleft practice | 还原普通句
Turn emphatic structures back into ordinary statements to check the underlying meaning.
47. Error clinic | 常见错误
| Error | Repair |
|---|---|
| It was Mei which called. ✗ | It was Mei who called. ✓ |
| What I need are more time. ✗ | What I need is more time. ✓ |
| It is because the cost that… ✗ | It is the cost that… / The reason is that… ✓ |
| What I need is to check. △ | What I need to do is check. ✓ more natural for action focus |
48. First weak link diagnosis | 第一个卡点诊断
- I use clefts without contrast → discourse-purpose problem.
- I lose agreement → clause grammar problem.
- I confuse it-cleft and what-cleft patterns → structure problem.
- I overuse them → register/style problem.
49. Retrieval lab | 提取练习
- 真正重要的是…… → ______
- 是 Mei 找到错误的。 → ______
- 我需要的是更多时间。 → ______
- 问题不在价格，而在可靠性。 → ______
Suggested answers: What really matters is… / It was Mei who found the error. / What I need is more time. / It wasn’t the price that was the problem; it was reliability.
50. Seven-day training cycle | 七天训练
| Day 1 | it-clefts | it 分裂句 |
| Day 2 | what-clefts | what 分裂句 |
| Day 3 | reason/person/place focus | 焦点类型 |
| Day 4 | correction/contrast | 纠正对比 |
| Day 5 | spoken focus | 口语 |
| Day 6 | de-cleft checking | 意义检查 |
| Day 7 | 250-word focus edit | 综合 |
51. Self-test | 自测
Use it-clefts, what-clefts, reason/person/place focus and negative clefts; restore clefts to ordinary order; explain what information is highlighted and why.
52. For parents and teachers | 给家长和老师
Teach clefts with contrast pairs. Ask: “What wrong assumption or competing detail is this sentence correcting?”
Do not reward clefts simply because they look advanced.
For Mandarin speakers, map focus meaning first, then build the English cleft pattern independently.
53. Final real-world challenge | 最终真实任务
- Write five it-clefts.
- Write five what-clefts.
- Focus person, object, time and reason.
- Use one negative correction cleft.
- Use one presentation focus sentence.
- De-cleft each sentence.
- Check agreement.
- Remove unnecessary clefts from a paragraph.
- Explain the intended contrast.
- Write a 250-word passage using no more than three purposeful clefts.
Next: Lesson No.075 | 下一课
The next lesson deepens multi-source synthesis: positioning sources by issue, evidence strength, agreement, scope and uncertainty rather than merely summarising them one after another.
Lesson No.075 · Multi-Source Synthesis and Source Positioning · 多来源综合与来源定位
Reference floor: British Council B2 Upper-intermediate.
