It-Cleft Subject Focus Exercises (Intermediate)

At intermediate level, it-cleft sentences grow more complex because the focused subject may include compound elements, embedded clauses, or longer noun phrases. The basic pattern remains the same — It was/is + focused subject + who/that + rest of the sentence — but the subject carries more detail. For example, "It was the chef who had trained in Paris that prepared the wedding banquet" lifts the entire noun phrase "the chef who had trained in Paris" into the focus position. When the focused subject already contains a relative clause, keep it attached — the it-cleft wraps around the complete noun phrase.

Compound subjects also work naturally in it-clefts: "It was my mother and my aunt who organised the surprise party" — both people share the emphasis. At B2 level, you encounter it-clefts in longer texts where the focused subject is a whole phrase: "It was the unexpected kindness of a stranger that changed her mind." These more complex structures test your ability to identify which element carries the emphasis and to maintain correct grammar when the sentence has multiple clauses. Cambridge B2 First frequently includes them in sentence transformation tasks.