Cleft sentences (It is/was… that…, What… is…)
Las cleft sentences se usan en C1 para dar énfasis y organizar la información: It was John who…, What I need is…. Cambias la forma, no el significado, para resaltar la parte importante.
1) Mapa rápido
Normal: I liked the atmosphere most.
Cleft: What I liked most was the atmosphere.
El mensaje es igual, pero la cleft hace que el foco sea más claro.
Piensa en las clefts como una forma de decir: “Lo que quiero destacar es esto”.
2) ¿Qué es una cleft sentence?
Una cleft sentence “divide” una idea en dos partes usando una estructura fija, para resaltar un elemento (foco):
Normal: John broke the window yesterday.
It-cleft: It was John who broke the window (y no otra persona).
What-cleft: What happened was that John broke the window.
- No añaden nueva información; solo reorganizan la oración.
- Son muy comunes en textos escritos, discursos y exámenes avanzados.
- Ayudan a dar énfasis, contraste o claridad en historias complejas.
3) It-clefts: It is/was X that/who…
Estructura básica:
It + be (is/was) + FOCUS + that/who + resto de la oración
| Función | Normal | It-cleft (énfasis) |
|---|---|---|
| Enfatizar sujeto | John wrote the report. | It was John who wrote the report. (no otra persona) |
| Enfatizar objeto | I remember that day very clearly. | It is that day that I remember very clearly. |
| Enfatizar lugar | I met her in Paris. | It was in Paris that I met her. |
| Enfatizar tiempo | They made the decision last week. | It was last week that they made the decision. |
| Enfatizar razón | They left early because of the storm. | It was because of the storm that they left early. |
Para personas usamos normalmente who, para cosas/lugares/tiempo usamos that.
4) What-clefts: What… is… / What… do/need/want is…
Las what-clefts empiezan con what y presentan el foco al final:
What + sujeto + verbo (+ complemento) + be + FOCUS
| Normal | What-cleft | Uso |
|---|---|---|
| I like the atmosphere most. | What I like most is the atmosphere. | Enfatiza “the atmosphere”. |
| I need a good night’s sleep. | What I need is a good night’s sleep. | Enfatiza “a good night’s sleep”. |
| The film impressed me. | What impressed me was the film. | Pone el foco en “the film”. |
| I like the way he explains things. | What I like is the way he explains things. | Muestra opinión de forma clara y natural. |
| He did the opposite. | What he did was (to) do the opposite. | Enfatiza la acción concreta. |
En conversación C1 suenan muy naturales: What I’m trying to say is…, What worries me is…, What I’d like to suggest is…
5) Otras variantes y comparación con orden normal
En muchos casos, puedes elegir entre orden normal, inversión u otras estructuras. Las clefts añaden énfasis y claridad, especialmente al escribir:
| Tipo | Ejemplo | Comentario |
|---|---|---|
| Orden normal | I learned most from my mistakes. | Oración simple, sin énfasis especial. |
| It-cleft | It was from my mistakes that I learned most. | Enfatiza el origen del aprendizaje. |
| What-cleft | What I learned most from was my mistakes. | Enfatiza el foco final “my mistakes”. |
| Combinada con discurso | What this shows is that we need a different approach. | Muy útil para essays e informes (C1 académico). |
No abuses de las clefts en un mismo texto. Úsalas para marcar puntos clave, como conclusiones o cambios importantes en la historia.
6) Errores típicos con cleft sentences
| Error | Problema | Versión correcta |
|---|---|---|
| *It was happened yesterday that…* | No se combina “it was” con otro verbo conjugado directo. | It was yesterday that it happened. |
| *What I need is is more time.* | Repetición del verbo “is”. | What I need is more time. |
| *It was my brother that he broke the vase.* | “that” ya introduce la cláusula; no se repite el sujeto con “he”. | It was my brother that/who broke the vase. |
| Cleft sin foco claro o demasiado larga | Cuesta entender qué se está enfatizando. | Mantén el foco como un elemento breve y claro: What surprised me most was his reaction. |
| Usar clefts en cada frase | El texto suena artificial y recargado. | Mezcla clefts con estructuras normales e inversión; úsalas como “highlight” puntual. |
7) Mini-práctica
- Reescribe usando it-clefts para enfatizar el elemento en negritas:
a) Maria discovered the mistake. → It was _______________________
b) I met my best friend at university. → It was _______________________
c) They decided to move because of the noise. → It was _______________________
d) We finished the project last Friday. → It was _______________________ - Reescribe usando what-clefts:
a) I enjoy the conversations most when I travel.
→ What ________________________________________________
b) I need some clear instructions.
→ What ________________________________________________
c) I don’t understand his attitude.
→ What ________________________________________________ - Completa con una estructura tipo What… is… usando las ideas entre paréntesis:
a) ______________________________ (me preocupa) is the lack of time.
b) ______________________________ (estoy intentando decir) is that we need to simplify the process.
c) ______________________________ (más me sorprendió) was how quickly they adapted. - Decide si las clefts son correctas (C) o incorrectas (I). Corrige las incorrectas:
a) It was in this company where I started my career.
b) What I found was that the plan didn’t work.
c) It was because the rains that the match was cancelled.
d) What do I like most is the flexibility. - (Producción guiada) Escribe 3–4 frases sobre tu vida o tus estudios usando al menos 2 it-clefts y 2 what-clefts.
Ideas: “It was in… that I…”, “What helped me most was…”,
“What I really want is…”, “It was my teacher who…”.
Respuestas ejemplo (orientativas):
1) a) It was Maria who discovered the mistake.
b) It was at university that I met my best friend.
c) It was because of the noise that they decided to move.
d) It was last Friday that we finished the project.
2) a) What I enjoy most when I travel is the conversations.
b) What I need is some clear instructions.
c) What I don’t understand is his attitude.
3) a) What worries me is the lack of time.
b) What I’m trying to say is that we need to simplify the process.
c) What surprised me most was how quickly they adapted.
4) a) “It was in this company where…” → más natural:
It was in this company that I started my career. (o mantener “where” + verbo).
b) C → Correcta.
c) I → Correcta: It was because of the rain that the match was cancelled.
d) I → Correcta: What I like most is the flexibility.
5) Respuesta libre. Ejemplo:
It was at university that I realised I wanted to be a teacher.
What helped me most was my friends’ support.
What I really want is more time to study languages.
It was my English teacher who encouraged me to take the exam.
8) Próximo paso
Continúa con Fronting y tematización, donde verás otras formas de llevar información al principio de la oración para controlar mejor el ritmo y el énfasis en tu inglés de nivel C1.