cleft sentence
noun Grammar.
a sentence in which a simpler sentence is paraphrased by being divided into two parts, each with its own verb, in order to emphasize certain information, especially a sentence beginning with expletive it and a form of be followed by the information being emphasized, as It was a mushroom that Alice ate instead of Alice ate a mushroom.
Also called pseudo-cleft sentence.
a two-part sentence in which a subject or subject complement expresses information being emphasized and an indefinite relative clause corresponds to the rest of a simpler sentence that has been paraphrased, as A mushroom was what Alice ate or What Alice ate was a mushroom.
Words nearby cleft sentence
clef,
cleft,
cleft hand,
cleft lip,
cleft palate,
cleft sentence,
cleft spine,
cleft tongue,
cleg,
clegg,
cleidal