Pseudo-cleft sentences
Pseudo-cleft sentences are similar in function to cleft sentences, but they are formed with the pronounA part of speech that refers to or stands instead of a noun. E.g.: Who do you think I am? ("you", "I") what ( = the thing(s) that/which) or all ( = the only thing(s) that/which) and have a clauseA group of related words containing a subject and a verb. that substitutes a noun phrase and acts as the subjectThe person or thing that performs the action of a verb or that is described by a verb. E.g.: Andy has never been to Brunei. ("Andy") of the whole sentence.
What I have always wanted is peace, love, freedom and happiness.
What I don’t like about him is his hairstyle.
"All you need is love."
If we want to refer to a person, we can say The person (that/who)...
The person I like best in the class is Julie.
It is interesting to notice that the subject of the sentence above is The person I like best in the class, which itself contains a defining relative clause, I like best in the class.
In the following sentences the verbA part of speech that expresses an action or a state. E.g.: John seldom plays tennis. phrases are emphasisSpecial importance or attention given to something. E.g.: All I wanna do is have some fun.ed by "cleaving". In this case the verb after be will take the form that corresponds to the form used in the what-clause:
What you should do is write a letter to the manager.
What I want to do is sleep.
What they were doing was bathing in a tub.
What I can do for you is call for a taxi.
I don’t know why the baby is crying. All I did was smile at her.
In these examples the verb after be will take the form that the verb in the what-clause is normally followed by:
What I want is to sleep.
What he hates is getting up early.
This is how you "cleave" a verb which is in the past simple and present perfectThe aspect expressing completion. E.g.: He’s finished university.:
What I did in the end was go home.
What I have done is write a letter to the editor.
Comments and questions
What is the difference
What is the difference in:
what I did was play footbal.
what I played was football.
thanks very much!
What I did was play football
What I did was play football (not watch TV).
What I played was football (not tennis).
In the first sentence you emphasisSpecial importance or attention given to something. E.g.: All I wanna do is have some fun.e the verbA part of speech that expresses an action or a state. E.g.: John seldom plays tennis. phrase "play football" as opposed to other activities. In the second you emphasise "football" as opposed to other sports you can play.
It is wrong-emphasis
It is wrong-emphasisSpecial importance or attention given to something. E.g.: All I wanna do is have some fun.ed(n).
It is right- emphasized(v).
Please correct this mistake.
Thanks!
It is not a mistake
It is not a mistake. Emphasise is the British spelling of the verb emphasize.
Dear simonp, I am a
Dear simonp,
I am a Taiwanese.
My dictionary(Wen Shin's) never has this word- EmphasisSpecial importance or attention given to something. E.g.: All I wanna do is have some fun.e, so I mistake.
Thank you for your answer.
With best regards,
Sincerely,
Anonymous
Which is correct in the
Which is correct in the following sentences:
1. The first thing he does is brush his teeth.
2. The first thing he does is brushs his teeth.
3. The first thing he does is to brush his teeth.
4. The first thing he does is brushing his teeth.
Thanks!
The correct sentence is:
The correct sentence is:
The first thing he does is brush his teeth.
Here brush is the infinitive form of the verbA part of speech that expresses an action or a state. E.g.: John seldom plays tennis., which we would use after does in other cases, e.g.:
He does brush his teeth twice a day.
(cf.: http://www.grammaring.com/notes-present-simple)
Note that the third person singular form of the verb brush in present simple would be brushes.
Which is correct
Dear Simonp,
You said that number 1 was correct out of the following:
1. The first thing he does is brush his teeth.
2. The first thing he does is brushs his teeth.
3. The first thing he does is to brush his teeth.
4. The first thing he does is brushing his teeth.
But Grammar by Michael Swan gives the following versions: What she does is write/to write/writes science fiction.
So number 3 and number 2(brushes) should be correct as well. Who is write?
Thanks!
If Michael Swan writes that
If Michael Swan writes that, I can't argue with him: all three versions should be correct. The question that remains is which one of them is more widely used. Personally, I prefer the bare infinitive, and that is what I hear most often, too:
What she does is write science fiction.
Thank you very much for your answer
Dear simonp,
Thank you very much for your answer-The correct sentence.
With the best regards,
Sincerely,
Anonymous
Which is correct in the
Which is correct in the following sentences:
1. I'd love to find a job working on a boat.
2. I'd love to find a job worked on a boat.
Thanks!
Well...
Well, your question has nothing to do with pseudo-cleft sentences, which is the title of this page. But to answer, the correct sentence is:
I'd love to find a job working on a boat.
In this sentence working is a present participle. You can find more about this topic on the following pages:
http://www.grammaring.com/the-present-participle-replacing-a-clause
http://www.grammaring.com/the-present-participle-in-certain-phrases
Dear simonp, Thank you very
Dear simonp,
Thank you very much for your answer.
With the best regards,
Sincerely,
Anonymous
The thing that etc.
Hi, an EFL teacher here.
Would you also include sentences like 'The thing (that) I want most is ...', 'The person (who) I like best is ...' etc. as pseudo-cleft sentences.
BBC Learning English seem to consider them cleft sentences (http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish...), although as far as I can see almost nowhere else mentions them. Most sources say exactly what you do - cleft sentences with 'It', pseudo-cleft sentences with 'What or All'. Any ideas?
Hi there, Thanks for the
Hi there,
Thanks for the suggestion. Actually, if you read the beginning of this page, it only seems logical that you can always replace what with the thing (that/which); so the type of sentence you mention also belongs here. What we missed, though, is the case when you refer to a person. In this case you start with The person (that/who)..., which is what you suggested.
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