Cleft Sentences

A cleft sentence splits one clause into two parts to emphasize specific information. Instead of "John called me," you say "It was John who called me" — the emphasis falls on John.

The most common are it-clefts ("It was Mike that broke the window"), wh-clefts / what-clefts ("What I need is a holiday"), all-clefts ("All I want is peace"), and reversed pseudo-clefts ("A holiday is what I need").

Use them in writing and speaking to highlight new or contrastive information, to correct someone ("It was Tuesday, not Monday"), or to sound more natural and emphatic in formal English. Clefts are especially valued in IELTS Speaking and Writing.

Both. "It-clefts" and "what-clefts" appear in everyday speech and formal writing alike. They are a classic way to add emphasis in academic essays and advanced exams like IELTS, TOEFL and Cambridge tests.