Learning English

Adding emphasis: 'what' cleft sentences.

Sometimes there's a particular part of a sentence that you really want to stress. It might be because it's new information or because it's the most interesting or important part of a sentence.

One way of giving emphasis is by changing the structure of a sentence and using something called a cleft sentence. In Unit 12 we looked at 'it' cleft sentences. Now let's study 'what' cleft sentences.

'What' cleft sentences

You can use an 'what' cleft to draw attention to the most interesting or important part. Compare these sentences:

Normal sentence structure

• We got to our hotel and realised that our room had been double booked.
• They moved us to a different hotel.
• He offered us another week there for free.

With emphasis using 'what'

• What happened was we got to the hotel and realised that our room had been double booked.
• What they did was move us to another hotel.
• What he did was offer us another week there for free.

Structure - Emphasising the noun

What + understood information + is was + emphasis

• What I hated most was the insects everywhere.

Structure - Emphasising the verb

What/All + subject + do/does/did + is/was + verb

• What they did was move us to another town.

Structure - Emphasising the whole sentence

What happens/happened + is/was + clause

• What happened was we got to the hotel and realised that our room had been double booked.
  

Note: These structures are useful when you're writing because we can't stress or give intonation in writing. They're also used often when speaking. But remember to stress the key information with your voice. Not, "What I need now is a holiday," but, "What I NEED now is a HOLIDAY."

For information on 'it' cleft sentences, check out this grammar reference.