CLEFT SENTENCES AND CONJUNCTIONS

A. Cleft Sentences:

I. Cleft Sentences in Active Form:

1. Subject Focus:
Ex1: Mr. Duy teaches English in Thong Linh High school.
S
–› It is Mr. Duy who / that teaches English in Thong Linh High school.
Ex2: The boy hit the dog in the garden yesterday.
S
–› It is the boy that hit the dog in the garden yesterday.
∙ Form:
It is/was + S + who/that + V+O

2. Object Focus:
Ex1: Mr. Duy teaches English in Thong Linh High school.
O
–› It is English that Mr. Duy teaches English in Thong Linh High school.
Ex2: The boy hit the dog in the garden yesterday.
O
–› It is the dog that the boy hit in the garden yesterday.
∙ Form:
It is/was + O+ that + S+V

3. Adverbial Focus:
Ex1: Mr. Duy teaches English in Thong Linh High school.
Adv
–› It is in Thong Linh High School that Mr. Duy teaches English.
Ex2: The boy hit the dog in the garden yesterday.
Adv
–› It is in the garden that the boy hit the dog.
∙ Form:
It is/was + Adv+that + S+V+O

II. Cleft Sentences in Passive Form:

Ex1: Mr. Duy teaches English in Thong Linh High school
O
–› It is English that is taught in Thong Linh High school by Mr. Duy

Ex2: The boy hit the dog in the garden yesterday.

O
–› It was the dog that was hit in the garden by the boy yesterday.

Ex3: She frightened the children

O
–› It was the children who / that were frightened (by her).
∙ Form:
was that(thing)
It + is + S + who/that (person) + be + V3/ed.

B. Conjunctions:

I. Both …and: (cả …. lẫn …, vừa … vừa…)

Ex1: Tom was late. So was Ann (Ann was, too.)
–› Both Tom and Ann was late.
Ex2: They were tired. They were hungry.
–› They were both tired andhungry.
Note: Both S1 and S2 + plural verb

II. Not only … but also: (không những … mà còn…)

Ex1: She is intelligent. She is also beautiful.
–› She is not only intelligent but also beautiful.
Ex2: My friend is a worker. I amalsoa worker.
–› Not only my friends but also I am a worker.

III. Either…or: (hoặc … hoặc…)

Ex1: You can come with me or walk home.
–› You can either come with me or walk home.
Ex2: They stay at home orhe stays at home.
–› Either they or he stays at home.

IV. Neither…nor: ( không … cũng không…)

Ex1: She didn’t write and didn’t phone.
–› She neither wrote nor phone.
Ex2: They weren’t at home. She wasn’t at home.
–› Neither they nor she was at home.
∙ Form:
Either or
Neither S1 + nor + S2 + V
Not only but also

C. Exercises:
I. Put emphasis on the bold words or phrases using It:
1. I’ve lost my book.
2. I saw him in the street only last week.
3. She bought a new dress to go to the party.
4. You are wrong, not me.
5. England won the World Cup in 1966.
6. We ordered wine. We didn’t order beer.
7. Did you start the fight, or was it someone else?
8. Peter lent us money. Paul did not.
9. You will succeed only by hard work.
10.The smoke from the factory chimney spollutes the air.
II. Change the sentences into cleft sentences in the passive:
1. Fred gave Mary the money.
2. Mr. Johnson sent the Jiff Company a letter.
3. I show my friends all of the photographs.
4. Did the boy throw his friend the baseball?
5. The teacher told the students an interesting story.

III. Combine the following pair of sentences, using “both …and, neither … nor,
either … or”:
1. It was a very boring film. It was very long, too.
2. The hotel wasn’t clean. And it wasn’t comfortable.
3. Is that man’s name Richard? Or is it Robert?
4. I didn’t have time to go on holiday. And I didn’t get money.
5. We can leave today or we can leave tomorrow.
6. The front of the house needs painting. The back needs painting, too.
7. George doesn’t smoke. And he doesn’t drink, either.

Exercise on Passive Voice (verbs of perception)

 People know that she is a good swimmer.
→
 They say that Francis is in hospital.
→
 They think that the children are in bed.
→
 People believe that the robber has worked in the bank.
→
 People believe that nuclear power stations are dangerous.
→
 His collegues thought that he was on holiday.
→
 People know that cars pollute the environment.
→
 They suppose that the new product will come out soon.
→
 They found that the mission was impossible.
→
 They believe that she will win a gold medal.
→