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Cleft Sentences (It was… that, What I need is…) – Worksheet 1

C1 Advanced WorksheetEnglish

This C1 worksheet practises cleft sentences used to focus on and emphasise information: it-clefts (It was Lucy who…, It wasn't until… that…) and wh-clefts (What I need is…, What she did was…, All I want is…). It covers form, meaning, negatives and questions, moving from controlled gap-fills to rewriting and error correction. It suits advanced learners preparing for exams or wanting more natural, emphatic spoken and written English.

items
40
Time
35 min
PDF
5 pages
Answer key
Included
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New to this topic? Read the guide first: Cleft Sentences (It was… that, What I need is…): Rules, Examples and Common Mistakes

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Exercise 1: Complete the cleft sentences

Complete each sentence with the correct form of the word in brackets.

Example: It ___ (be) the weather that ruined our trip. → was

  1. It (be) my sister who found the keys, not me.

  2. What I need right now (be) a long holiday.

  3. What she did was (call) the police immediately.

  4. (be) it you who left the back door open last night?

  5. It (not / be) the price that put me off; it was the colour.

  6. What happened (be) that the server crashed during the presentation.

  7. Who (be) it that recommended this restaurant?

  8. What I don't understand (be) why nobody told us earlier.

Exercise 2: Use the words from the box

Complete each sentence with a word from the box. There are two extra words.

Example: ___ annoys me is the constant noise. → What

Word box whatwhothatallreasonplacethingwhichwhere

  1. It was Daniel organised the whole event.

  2. surprised me most was how calm she stayed.

  3. I don't want anything else. I want is a cup of tea.

  4. The why I left early was that I felt unwell.

  5. The where we first met is now a café.

  6. The I love most about this city is the food.

  7. It was in 2015 they moved to Lisbon.

  8. It wasn't until midnight the guests finally left.

Exercise 3: Rewrite for emphasis

Rewrite each sentence as a cleft sentence, beginning with the words in brackets.

Example: Tom told me the news. (It was…) → It was Tom who told me the news.

  1. Lucy broke the vase. (It was…)

  2. I need some fresh air. (What…)

  3. We met in Prague. (It was in…)

  4. The noise annoys me. (What…)

  5. He didn't realise his mistake until the next morning. (It wasn't until…)

  6. She sold her car. (What she did…)

  7. Did Anna send you this message? (Was it…)

  8. I don't like his attitude. (What I don't like…)

Exercise 4: Correct the mistakes

Each sentence has one mistake. Write the corrected sentence.

Example: It was Sara which won the prize. → It was Sara who won the prize.

  1. What I need are a strong coffee.

  2. It was my brother which fixed the car.

  3. What he did was to apologised to everyone.

  4. It was in Rome when I first tried real gelato.

  5. It is the side effects that worries me.

  6. Who was it that did you invite?

  7. What I really enjoy it is cooking for friends.

  8. It wasn't until she left that I didn't realise how much I missed her.

Exercise 5: Put the words in order

Put the words in the correct order to make cleft sentences.

Example: was / it / Ben / that / called → It was Ben that called.

  1. was / it / who / Maria / the / answered / phone

  2. is / what / time / need / I / more

  3. it / that / was / you / where / met / him / ?

  4. until / wasn't / it / that / 10 p.m. / arrived / they

  5. did / was / he / what / resign

  6. all / is / she / to / wants / travel

  7. thing / the / worries / that / me / is / cost / the

  8. it / was / you / that / ? / phoned / me

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About this test

C1 worksheet on cleft sentences: It was… that/who, What I need is…, All I want is…, with negatives and questions. Printable, with answers.

Topics covered

It-cleft sentencesWh-cleft sentencesAll / The thing / The reason cleftsIt wasn't until… that…Cleft questions and negativesEmphasis and focus

Notes for teachers

Start by contrasting a neutral sentence with its cleft versions and ask which part is being emphasised; reading the clefts aloud with stress on the focused element helps learners hear the contrast. Typical mistakes include using 'which' or 'when' instead of 'who/that' in it-clefts, wrong verb agreement after the focus (It is the costs that worries…), adding an extra pronoun (What I enjoy it is…), and inflecting the verb after 'What he did was' (was apologised). As a follow-up, have pairs correct deliberately false statements about each other using contrastive clefts (It wasn't me who…, it was…).

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