Hugo Ayala De Miguel

Ral Martnez Gulln

Mara Vergara Martnez
Elvira Mateo Lpez

What is a cleft structure?

A cleft structure involves recasting a normal

sentence pattern to give focus to a particular

topic. The most common pattern is it + be +
focus + clause.
Phoebe plays the guitar can be recast into:
It is guitar that Phoebe plays. (focus on the
sport)
It is Phoebe who plays the guitar. (focus on the
person)

Structures to give emphasis

It + be + focus + clause (The commonest)
The thing/sth or the person/sb
One thing, one person
The only, all
The thing that
Be + infinitive clause
Impersonal it + be (similar to the first one)

The thing, the person

Cleft sentences often use the thing/sth or the

person/sb
For more emphasis, we could use one thing or one
person
The thing (that) I like about him is his honesty
Something (that) I hate seeing is my desk full of stuf
One person (who) I cant bear is my aunt Chonny
Somebody (who) I would kill for is my mum (sweet,
huh?)

The only and all

If we want to emphasise that we

are excluding everything else, we

can use the only or all.
The only lecturer you cannot learn sth from is Vicente
Fors
All (that) I want is to eat ice-cream next to you
The only thing that Im really keen on is dancing

The thing that

This phrase is also use to add emphasis
The thing that I bought back there is a pair of binoculars in
order to keep a watch on my neigbour. He keeps doing
pretty odd things

This sentence is often replaced with what

(making a nominal relative clause)

What I really enjoyed was how honest he was at the meeting
His honesty was what I enjoyed the most at the meeting

Be + Infitive Clause
When we talk about actions in the main

clause of cleft sentences, we use a be

+ infinitive clause.
What we usually do in our spare time is go buy sweets
and eat them while walking. Everyone keeps staring at
us, but we do not care at all about that. Were happy.
What Im asked to do is attend three lectures and write
notes down for 5 hours in a row. I obviously denied.

Impersonal it + be
Cleft sentences are often formed

with this pattern. This is way the

most common structure, which have
been mencioned at the very
beginning.
It was you who hung up in the first place, which means I
love you more
It is me who have to do the tour on lair, not you. Youre
doing entrechat quatre

Other ways of Emphasizing

So and such (a/an)
You look so nice today, dear Nino
The dessert was so cloying that I was not able to finish it

Exaggerated lexis
Im so starving/ravenous that I could eat you! (hungry)
The weather today is absolutely freezing (cold)

 Intensifying adverbs
Similes
No wonder hes fat. He eats like a horse and drinks like a
fish
My plan worked like a dream, and no one touched my
breakfast mug again

Use of On earth
Question word + on earth + auxiliary verb +
subject + verb
Who on earth would want to smell MariJuanis armpit?
What on earth am I doing here with you?

 Stressing auxiliary verbs

Auxiliary verbs in spoken English are not
usually stressed (except for modal auxiliaries),
and are usually contracted.
If we stress them, it adds emphasis to the
sentence. This emphasis is use in various
ways, eg. To show determination, to convince
someone or to contradict someone.
I did not fail the exam. Is the teacher who dislikes me!
Mum, I will clean up my room this evening. Word!

 Do and did in present and past tenses

In present and past simple forms, do and
did are used as stressed auxiliaries before
the main verb to give emphasis.
Subject + do/did + bare infinitive +
complements

I do enjoy English Language II lessons. Thats the reason I

wake up so happy every Thursday morning.
You did know you should not steal from any place, right?
I do like having something to read in the bathroom
And yes, I did sing while I was having a shower. Whats
the matter?

Exclamation forms WHAT

The word What is used at the

beginning of exclamation sentences.

- What a wonderful car! - What a nice weekend! - What nonsense! - Can you provide more examples?

Other uses of What

What is used with the part of the sentence that

usually is after the subject, plus the verb.

- The football player scored a great goal. What a great goal scored by the football player! -

The guitar player did an awesome solo. What an awesome guitar solo! -

What

Anything to tell? Give us your ideas! -

is followed (normally) by an
adjective. Sometimes with an adverb too,
which modifies the adjective. Even without an
adjective or an adverb, the structure indicates
something unusual (either for good or bad).

Exclamation forms HOW

Like What, How is used at the

beginning of exclamations.
- How mean you are! - How good was this ice-cream! - How cool is that!
- Can you provide more examples?

Compare to emphasize
Comparative structure can be used

for emphasize.
Usually the sentence contains a
negative word, that is placed in the
beginning of the sentence.
-

Nobody has a car like him! -

Nothing better than sleeping in a Sunday morning. -

Now, your turn to give us an example. -

Emphasise with adjectives and

adverbs
Strengthening

the adjectives and

adverbs is another way to make
more emphatic a sentence.

- I bought my guitar at unbelievably low price in

Japan. - Narrativas class is extremely boring! - Your turn to give us some examples. -

Fronting
That means to put the information at the

beginning of our sentence. That way the

relevant info is in the front.

- The best time to visit Canada is spring, in my opinion.

- Spring is the best time to visit Canada, in my opinion.
- In my opinion, the best time to visit Canada is spring.
-

Give us a few examples of fronting.

Inversion
This is other way of emphasizing.
Forms of inversion
After a negative adverb.
Under no circumstances would I eat a cat

After a restrictive adverb.

Little did I ever imagine that It would happen

 When the verb is used in a form with

more than one auxiliary structure is

ADVERB + AUXILIARY + SUBJ + MAIN
VERB

Never I had such poor service

Hardly had I started eating when I
realized it was all gone

 When the verb is used in a form with

more than one auxiliary, the structure

is
ADVERB + 1ST AUX + SUBJ + OTHER AUX +
MAIN VERB

Never have she been surprised in that

way
Never have I been so slapped for having
unfaithful to my wife

 With present/past simple, the

structure is
ADVERB + DO/DID + SUBJ + MAIN BERB

Never did he consider he would work as

a teacher
Seldom do he thinks about his cat when
seeing others

 With the simple form of be, the main

verb is placed before the subject.

Rarely was she in time

Rarely was he at home

Example of Adverbials
Hardly
Hardly I had I gone to sleep when he called
me
Little
Little did I ever imagine that I would one day
be making an English presentation like this
Never
Never have I met such a wonderful girl

 No sooner
No sooner was the teacher in the class
than everybody sit down
Not only but also
Not only did she forgive him but she also
bought a present for him
On no account
On no account are we going to tell his parents
the truth

 Seldom
Seldom do I walk near of her horrible
house! I dont want to encounter with her
Under no circumstances
Under no circumstances would I became a
nun
Other common adverbials are:
-

At no time
In Vain
Such
By no means

Adverbials followed by different

patterns of inversion
So that
SO + ADJ + BE + SUBJ + THAT

So happy was he that he kissed me

Only after / not until

They introduce a clause, so the inversion
comes after the whole only after or not
until clause

Only after Im sure my makeup is high

profile, will I put in me, if not, I will try it
on Marias face

Now, your turn to give us some

examples
And Thank you!!