Discurso y texto en inglés. EMC
VARIOUS TYPES OF CLEFT CONSTRUCTIONS
[See Hannay & Mackenzie (2002: 138-146) & Mackenzie & Martínez Caro (2012: 243-245)]
It-clefts:
(Highlighted element or focus in italics):
It was not until the 1960s that hanging was banned in Britain.
It is Steiner’s bold use of metaphor that is most striking.
It is precisely these problems that the authors neglected.
It is when their husbands are on active duty that army wives are most concerned.
It was this that prompted the retreat of the army.
FUNCTIONS:
1. It serves to focus a single constituent of a sentence (the only candidate from a range of
options)
2. It is normal for the text that comes after this construction to pick up the focused element and
to develop it.
The it-cleft in context:
While bilingualism and biculturalism may superficially appear to have a detrimental
effect on personality, bilingualism is not likely to be the cause. That is, it is not
language that causes personality problems. Rather, it is often the social, economic
and political conditions surrounding bilinguals that generate such problems.
The PSEUDO-CLEFT construction:
Wh-clefts:
What is most striking is Steiner’s bold use of metaphor.
What the government has failed to consider is the effect on old-age pensioners.
Why it is now time to act is because there are only twenty years of coal resources left.
What I am going to talk about today is how to improve your sales performance.
There is a variant of the wh-cleft which has been called the th-cleft (by Peter Collins), where
the wh-word in the final wh-clause is replaced by a longer expression forming a noun phrase:
what: the thing that
why: the reason that./.why
how: the way that./.in which
where: the place that./.where
when: the time./.minute./.day etc. that
The thing that is most striking is Steiner’s bold use of metaphor.
The matter that the government has failed to consider is the effect on old-age
pensioners.
The reason that it is now time to act is because there are only twenty years of coal
resources left.
The way (that/in which) you do it is like this. (vs. How you do it is like this)
