Cleft sentences for emphasis
Vurğu üçün kleft cümlələr
After this lesson you can
- Can use it-clefts and wh-clefts to highlight specific information in a sentence.
- Can transform neutral statements into emphatic structures appropriate for formal and informal contexts.
- Can recognise and produce cleft sentences with 'the thing that', 'all (that)', and 'what' to manage information focus.
Explanation
What are cleft sentences?
Cleft sentences split a simple sentence into two parts to emphasise specific information. Compare:
- John broke the window yesterday. (neutral)
- It was John who broke the window yesterday. (focus on John)
- What I need is a holiday. (focus on holiday)
It-cleft
It + be + focused part + that/who + rest
- It was the manager who approved the plan.
- It is in this office that we hold meetings. Use who for people, that for things, places, times.
Wh-cleft
What + subject + verb + be + focused part
- What I need is a holiday.
- What she said was completely true.
Other patterns
- The thing that I like most is the music.
- All (that) I want is a quiet evening.
- The reason why I called is to say sorry.
Cleft sentences are common in formal writing and in speech for emphasis, correction or contrast.
Azərbaycan dilində ətraflı izah
Kleft cümlə nədir?
Kleft cümlə (cleft sentence) adi cümləni iki hissəyə bölərək müəyyən bir informasiyanı vurğulamağa imkan verir. Məsələn, John broke the window yesterday cümləsini müxtəlif üsullarla vurğulaya bilərik:
- It was John who broke the window yesterday. (John vurğulanır)
- It was the window that John broke yesterday. (pəncərə vurğulanır)
- It was yesterday that John broke the window. (zaman vurğulanır)
It-cleft
Forma: It + be + vurğulanan hissə + that/who + qalan hissə
- It was the manager who approved the plan.
- It is in this office that we hold meetings.
- It was because of the rain that the match was cancelled.
Who yalnız şəxslər üçün, that hər şey üçün işlənir. Rəsmi üslubda that daha çox yayılmışdır.
Wh-cleft (pseudo-cleft)
Forma: What + mübtəda + feil + be + vurğulanan hissə
- What I need is a holiday.
- What she said was completely true.
- What happened was that the system crashed.
Burada what cümlənin əvvəlində gəlir və əsas məlumat sonda verilir.
Digər variantlar
- The thing that I like most is the music. (what-a alternativ)
- All (that) I want is a quiet evening. (yalnız bir şeyi vurğulayır)
- The reason why I called is to say sorry.
- It is not until next week that we can start. (rəsmi)
Azərbaycan dili ilə müqayisə
Azərbaycan dilində vurğu söz sırası və ya **elə **, **məhz **, ki ilə verilir: Məhz John pəncərəni sındırdı. İngilis dilində isə kleft quruluşu cümləni yenidən təşkil edir. Azərbaycan dilindəki ki bəzən that ilə üst-üstə düşür, amma ingilis dilində that burada mütləq deyil, çox vaxt buraxılır: It was John (that) broke the window.
Nə vaxt istifadə etməli?
- Yazıda və nitqdə müəyyən məlumatı önə çıxarmaq üçün.
- Rəsmi məktublarda, hesabatlarda, təqdimatlarda.
- Danışıqda təəccüb, qeyri-müəyyənlik və ya düzəliş bildirmək üçün: It wasn't me who said that!
Examples
It was my sister who first suggested the idea.
Bu fikri ilk dəfə mənim bacım təklif etdi.
it-cleft, şəxs vurğulanır
What we need is a more efficient system.
Bizə lazım olan daha səmərəli sistemdir.
wh-cleft
It was only after the meeting that I realised the mistake.
Yalnız iclasdan sonra səhvi başa düşdüm.
it-cleft, zaman vurğulanır
The thing that annoys me most is the noise.
Məni ən çox əsəbiləşdirən səs-küydür.
the thing that
All I want is a bit of peace and quiet.
İstədiyim yalnız bir az sakitlikdir.
all (that)
It wasn't until 2010 that the law changed.
Qanun yalnız 2010-cu ildə dəyişdi.
not until
What surprised me was how quickly she recovered.
Məni təəccübləndirən onun nə qədər tez sağalması idi.
wh-cleft
Common mistakes
It was John who he broke the window.
It was John who broke the window.
It-cleft-də who-dan sonra əvəzlik təkrarlanmır. 'who he broke' yanlışdır.
What I need it is a holiday.
What I need is a holiday.
Wh-cleft-də 'what' artıq mübtəda rolundadır, 'it' əlavə etmək lazım deyil.
It was the window who John broke.
It was the window that John broke.
Əşyalar üçün 'who' deyil, 'that' işlənir.
The thing what I like is music.
The thing that I like is music.
'The thing' ilə 'that' işlənir, 'what' yox.
Vocabulary
- all (that) phrase
- used to mean 'the only thing'bütün, yalnız“All I need is a little time.”
- cleft sentence noun
- a sentence divided into two parts to emphasize one elementparçalanmış cümlə“It was the cost that concerned them most.”
- focus noun
- the main point of attentiondiqqət mərkəzi“The focus of the lesson is on pronunciation.”
- not until phrase
- used to say something happens only after a certain timeyalnız ... -dan sonra“It was not until midnight that he arrived.”
- pseudo-cleft noun
- a wh-cleft sentence beginning with 'what'pseudo-kleft“What she said was very helpful.”
- the thing that phrase
- used to introduce a focused elemento şey ki“The thing that matters is your health.”