FTD-Serie: Texte zu den Business-English-Podcasts

Here you can find the texts for our Business English podcasts and improve your language skills.

0 Bewertungen

Merken Drucken 16.11.2012, 12:00 Schriftgröße: A A A

Business English: Tip of the Week: Cleft sentences, Part 2

Every week this short podcast covers a specific point of English to help you improve your language skills

von Celia Wynne Willson

This week’s tip of the week follows on from last week – how to construct cleft sentences in English.

Other structures:

• All (that) and expressions with thing can also be used in cleft sentences to put emphasis on a particular aspect.

For example: All you need is love

All (that) I did was (to) touch the plate, and it broke

My first trip to England is something I shall never forget

• To emphasise time expressions you can use phrases such as It was not until... and It was only when...

For example: It was not until you showed me the report that I fully understood the situation

It was only when I looked at my watch that I realised I was very late

• This and that often replace emphasised here and there at the beginning of a cleft sentence.

For example: You pay here

→ This is where you pay

→ OR Here is where you pay

I live there

→ That’s where I live

→ OR There’s where I live

Preparatory it:

• Starting a cleft sentence with it is another way to emphasise a certain element. The words to be emphasised are usually joined to the relative clause by that.

For example, compare the following sentences which all put emphasis on different parts of the sentence:

My secretary sent the invoice to Mr Smith yesterday

It was my secretary that sent the invoice to Mr Smith yesterday (not somebody else)

It was the invoice that my secretary sent to Mr Smith yesterday (not something else)

It was Mr Smith that my secretary sent the invoice to yesterday (not to somebody else)

It was yesterday that my secretary sent the invoice to Mr Smith (not another day)

Jetzt bewerten

Bookmarken Drucken Senden Leserbrief schreiben Fehler melden