It-Cleft Subject Focus Exercises (Easy)

An it-cleft sentence splits a simple statement into two clauses to highlight one piece of information. The most common pattern focuses on the subject — the person or thing that performed the action. The structure follows a clear formula: It was/is + the focused element + who/that + the rest of the sentence. For example, "Sarah won the prize" becomes "It was Sarah who won the prize." Use who when you emphasise a person and that when you emphasise a thing, although that can replace who in informal English.

It-clefts are especially useful for correcting misunderstandings or making contrasts: "It wasn't Tom who called — it was David." In spoken English, the stressed word carries the emphasis naturally, but in writing, cleft sentences do this work because readers cannot hear intonation. This structure appears regularly in Cambridge B2 First and C1 Advanced Use of English tasks, where candidates must transform sentences using emphasis patterns. Recognising and producing basic it-clefts is therefore a valuable skill for both communication and exam preparation.