Wh-Cleft What-clauses Exercises (Advanced)

At advanced level, wh-cleft sentences extend beyond what to include other wh-words: where, who, when, why, and how. Each word creates a different type of emphasis: "Where she works is a mystery" (place), "Who called you was your old teacher" (person), "Why he resigned remains unclear" (reason), and "How they solved the problem was ingenious" (method). These expanded wh-clefts give speakers and writers precise control over which element receives the emphasis, making them powerful tools in academic arguments and professional communication.

Advanced wh-clefts often contain embedded clauses or complex verb phrases within the wh-clause itself: "What the investigation revealed was that the company had been operating illegally for years." The tense of "be" (is/was/has been) must match the context, and the wh-clause may contain modals or perfect forms: "What should have happened was a proper review of all the evidence." These structures demand careful attention to tense agreement and clause boundaries. They are highly valued in Cambridge C1 Advanced writing and speaking tasks, where they demonstrate grammatical range and sophistication.