Grammar · Clauses, Connectors & Sentence Style
Cleft Sentences (What I Loved Was…)
Split one sentence into two so the important part stands in the spotlight. Learn the two main patterns with The Shawshank Redemption, a story told by its narrator, Red.
Grammar › Clauses, Connectors & Sentence Style › Cleft Sentences
The rule in one sentenceTo put one piece of information in the spotlight, split the sentence in two: It was … that / who … puts the focus near the start, while What … is / was … saves it for the end.
About the film
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) opens in 1947, when Andy Dufresne, a quiet young banker from Maine, is sent to Shawshank State Prison for murdering his wife and her lover, a crime he insists he did not commit. It is another prisoner, Ellis “Red” Redding, who tells us Andy’s story, and what Red is known for is getting almost anything from the outside world. What he notices first about the new arrival is how strangely calm he seems.
What does it do?
English word order is fairly strict, so you cannot simply move a word to the front of a sentence to make it sound important, as many other languages allow. Instead, English cuts the sentence into two parts and builds a frame around the piece of information that deserves the attention.
With it was … that, the key information arrives immediately, which makes the pattern ideal for correcting a mistake or drawing a sharp contrast. With what … was, the listener has to wait, so the focus lands at the end with extra weight, which is why film critics and storytellers love it.
Each tile contains exactly the same facts as an ordinary sentence would, but the frame signals to the listener which part deserves the most attention. In the first two tiles the focus appears early, whereas in the last two it arrives only after the verb be, like the punchline of a carefully timed joke.
Red narrates the film. → It is Red who narrates the film. → What Red does is narrate the film.
All three sentences share the same facts, but each one moves the spotlight to a different place, from no emphasis at all to a strong focus on Red, and finally to a strong focus on his role.
Visual guide
Teacher Teddy’s illustrated guide to this rule is being drawn — the full swipe-through infographic will appear here soon.
How to make it
It is / It was … that / who — focus near the start
It was a quiet banker who arrived at Shawshank in 1947.
It isn’t the guards who tell this story; it’s Red.
The negative corrects a wrong idea and points to the right one.Was it Red who first noticed Andy?
Swap it and was to make a question.What … is / was … — focus at the end
What Red can do is get almost anything from outside.
What the warden does not want is trouble in his prison.
Put not inside the what-clause, exactly as in a normal sentence.What does Red find so unusual about Andy?
The answer often comes back as a what-cleft: What Red finds unusual is …When to use each one
It-cleft — correcting and contrasting
What-cleft — building up to the point
Words that help: ready-made frames
Learn these frames as complete chunks and then drop your own focus into the gap, because they appear constantly in film reviews, business presentations and formal exam essays.
It-cleft frames
What-cleft frames
Common mistakes
❌ It was Red what told the story.
✅ It was Red who told the story.
After the focus, use who for people and that for things, never what.
❌ What does Red do is get things from outside.
✅ What Red does is get things from outside.
A what-cleft is a statement, not a question, so it keeps normal word order.
❌ It were the long years that changed the prisoners.
✅ It was the long years that changed the prisoners.
The word it always takes a singular verb, even when the focus is plural.
❌ What I love it is the film’s patience.
✅ What I love is the film’s patience.
Do not add it, because the what-clause is already the subject.
One more thing
This part reaches the top of the level, so come back to it once the two main frames feel natural.
Two more spotlight frames: all-clefts and the reason why. An all-cleft means the only thing, so it makes the focus feel small and precious. Frames such as the reason why, the place where and the thing that work like what-clefts but sound a little more formal. And an it-cleft with only is a favourite in careful writing.
✅ All I wanted after the film was a moment of silence.
✅ The reason why the film works is its narrator.
✅ It was only when the credits rolled that I realised how late it was.
Practice: choose the right form
Here are eight questions about Red, Andy and the film itself, so choose the version a careful writer would use and then read the explanation that follows.
1. It is Red ___ tells the story of Shawshank.
After the focus of an it-cleft, use who for a person.
2. ___ Red can do is get almost anything from outside.
A what-cleft opens with What, and the focus comes after is.
3. It ___ in 1947 that Andy arrived at the prison.
It-clefts about the past use it was.
4. What Andy insists ___ that he is innocent.
The two halves of a what-cleft are joined by be.
5. It was the calm new prisoner ___ caught Red’s attention.
Never use what after the focus of an it-cleft.
6. What I love about the film ___ its patience.
Do not add it; the what-clause is already the subject.
7. It is inside Shawshank ___ almost the whole film takes place.
A place in the spotlight is still followed by that.
8. It ___ the guards who tell this story. It’s Red.
The negative of an it-cleft uses is not, never do.
Your turn
Choose one ending. Then listen to your sentence.
Every sentence here is correct, so notice how the first frame saves the important part for the end, while the second puts a person in the spotlight straight away, and then choose the endings that are true for you.
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