cleft sentence

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noun Grammar.

a sentence in which a simpler sentence is paraphrased by being divided into two parts, each with its own verb, in order to emphasize certain information, especially a sentence beginning with expletive it and a form of be followed by the information being emphasized, as It was a mushroom that Alice ate instead of Alice ate a mushroom.

Also called pseudo-cleft sentence. a two-part sentence in which a subject or subject complement expresses information being emphasized and an indefinite relative clause corresponds to the rest of a simpler sentence that has been paraphrased, as A mushroom was what Alice ate or What Alice ate was a mushroom.

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

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Words nearby cleft sentence

Cleethorpes, clef, cleft, cleft lip, cleft palate, cleft sentence, cleg, Clegg, cleidoic, cleidoic egg, Cleisthenes

How to use cleft sentence in a sentence

As this list shows, punishments typically run to a short-ish jail sentence and/or a moderately hefty fine.
In Defense of Blasphemy|Michael Tomasky|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice turned herself in to serve a 15-month sentence for bankruptcy fraud.
How a ‘Real Housewife’ Survives Prison: ‘I Don’t See [Teresa Giudice] Having a Cakewalk Here’|Michael Howard|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
That Huckabee is mentioned in the same sentence with other aspiring conservative governors, especially Bobby Jindal, is laughable.
Why This Liberal Hearts Huckabee|Sally Kohn|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Brown had been serving a life sentence; McCollum had been on Death Row.
How the U.S. Justice System Screws Prisoners with Disabilities|Elizabeth Picciuto|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Had he been competently represented, the jury might well have failed to concur on a death sentence.
How the U.S. Justice System Screws Prisoners with Disabilities|Elizabeth Picciuto|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Before he could finish the sentence the Hole-keeper said snappishly, "Well, drop out again—quick!"
Davy and The Goblin|Charles E. Carryl
Each sentence came as if torn piecemeal from his unwilling tongue; short, jerky phrases, conceived in pain and delivered in agony.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
Sentence of fine and imprisonment passed upon lord Bacon in the house of peers for bribery.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
John Wilkes released from the tower by the memorable sentence of chief justice Pratt.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
It seeks the shortest phrase or sentence and adds successively all the modifiers, making no omissions.
Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)