Mixed Cleft Exercises (Easy)

This exercise brings together the five main cleft types at B2 level: it-clefts ("It was Sarah who..."), wh-clefts ("What I need is..."), reversed wh-clefts ("A holiday is what I need"), all-clefts ("All I want is..."), and thing-clefts ("The reason why... was..."). Each type places emphasis differently, and choosing the right one depends on what you want to highlight and where in the sentence the focus should fall. Mastering the five core patterns gives you powerful tools for creating emphasis in both speech and writing.

The most important skill at this level is recognising which element in a sentence should be emphasised, then selecting the cleft type that achieves this most naturally. Subject focus suits it-clefts; object and action focus suits wh-clefts; limitation suits all-clefts; category-based focus suits thing-clefts; and immediate emphasis on a specific element suits reversed wh-clefts. Common mistakes include mixing up cleft types, using the wrong relative pronoun, or accidentally changing the meaning of the original sentence during transformation. Cambridge B2 First regularly tests cleft sentence transformations in its Use of English paper.