Current Grammar Exercises – Emphatic Structures

… it is its amazing variety and heterogeneousness which is even more striking…

Cleft means divided. In cleft sentences the message is divided into two clauses, each with its subject and predicate. In the first clause, we use preparatory it to put extra emphasis on the desired sentence member; and then it is joined to the defining relative clause with relative pronouns (who, whom, whose, which, that) and relative adverbs (where, when, why) that we normally use in defining relative clauses.

The sentence “The Professor switched his students to his research last week.” can be paraphrased to put emphases on its varied parts:

EMPHASIS ON THE SUBJECT	It was the Professor | who switched his students to the research last week.
EMPHASIS ON THE OBJECT	It was his students | that the Professor switched to his research last week.
EMPHASIS ON THE ADVERBIAL OF TIME	It was last week | that the Professor switched his students to his research.
EMPHASIS ON THE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE	It was to his research | that the Professor switched his students last week.

14. Reword the sentences to make emphases on the parts of the sentences in bold type.

1. English is spoken by the largest number of people in the world.

2. People willingly choose this lingua franca for a lot of reasons.

3. English owes its appeal partly to qualities and characteristics inherent in itself.

4. English could make new words for new ideas from its own compounded elements.

5. In the fifth and sixth centuries things changed.

6. Its copiousness of vocabulary is outstanding.

7. This receptiveness has contributed to making it a suitable and attractive vehicle.

8. Grammar indicates the relationship of words in a sentence.

9. An inflected language can afford to be fairly free in the arrangement of its words.

To emphasise the verb we use the WH-clauses, which are (1) embedded/indirect questions, (2) often using the verb DO (see examples), and (3) linked to the verb or verbal group that we want to focus on with is or was. These are called pseudoclefts. The second part of the sentence uses a bare infinitive or TO + INF. If the first clause is in a Continuous tense the second part uses gerund or gerundial phrase.

e.g. The Professor initiated to switch his students to his research. The Dean only commended both parties for cooperation. The students are now labouring on texts. The Professor means to carry on this practice.

EMPHASIS ON THE ACTION

What the Professor did/initiated | was | (to) switch his students to his research. What the Dean has done/come out with | is | only (to) commend both parties for cooperation. What the students are doing | is | taking part in his research now. What the Professor is going to do/means | is | (to) carry on this practice.

15. Reword the sentences to make emphases on the predicate.

1. As a young researcher I send my scholarly papers to academic journals.

2. In publishing the authors provide the content of the journals.

3. As a probe I first published my term paper.

4. Not so long ago I prepared and submitted a manuscript to my editor.

5. He has always provided a prompt review of my writings.

6. The other day he forwarded it to the proof-reader.

7. The proof-reader is now checking out the thing for misprints.

8. I will probably have to supply the supporting information for the editor to verify aggregate figures.

9. I am hoping to see the article in print in the November’s issue.

10. Personally, I prefer doing linguistic research with social relevance.

Sometimes to make emphasis on one particular thing, we use all instead of what.

e.g. If you want to join, all you need to do is (to) call up their site.

WH-clauses may serve to put emphases on other sentence parts.

e.g. What/All you need now is a couple of days to tie up the loose ends.

16. Use cleft sentences to emphasise the parts in italics using either What or, when appropriate, All. Translate the reworded text into Ukrainian.

The percentage of people who know how to drive a stick is marginal. But (1) a manual transmission requires the driver to shift the gears themselves. Most cars have five or six forward speeds, as well as reverse. In order to master the process, (2) you need to know the following:

The clutch pedal is located at the far left and (3) you use it when moving up or down from one gear to another. The clutch is disengaged when the pedal is pushed to the floor.

Neutral is not a gear; actually, it is the absence of gear. When the engine is running in neutral, (4) you can rev up the engine, but you won't go anywhere. For most cars, second gear is the workhorse. But otherwise, (5) It will get you up (and down) steep hills as well as through congested downtown.

(6) The gas pedal (at far right) works with the gears to give the engine power at different levels. As mentioned before, if you press on the gas pedal while out of gear, (7) you will only rev the car up: this is how young men impress women. But if you over-accelerate with the clutch partially engaged, (8) you'll eventually wear it out.

First, (9) you must learn to shift the gears without the car running. Eventually, you will know when to shift by feel.

Put the car in neutral before starting, or (10) you will jump and stall the car. This is bad. Leave the shifter into neutral while the car warms up. Alternately, (11) you start the car in gear with the clutch pedal pushed to the floor, then shift into neutral, release the clutch pedal, and let the car move ahead.

Other cleft structures include the reason why, the thing that, the person/people who, the place where, the day when

17. Read the simple sentences and paraphrased cleft sentences. Then make cleft sentences of the same pattern from the other simple sentence.

1. He has been hired to sort out our problems. The reason why he’s been hired is to sort out our problems. I’ve done some additional research to have a better insight into the subject-matter. ____________________________________________________________________________________

2. His lecture opened my eyes on the problem. The thing that opened my eyes on the problem was his lecture. The decision to cut down the course duration made my hair stand on end. ____________________________________________________________________________________

3. We are to meet on this street corner. The place where we are to meet is this street corner. (or) This corner is the place where we are… We’ll be having lunch at the cafeteria today. ____________________________________________________________________________________

4. Ultimately, the Dean is responsible for a smooth faculty operation. The person who is ultimately responsible for the faculty’s smooth operation is the Dean. (or) The Dean is the person who is … Mary deserves the Student-of-the-year Award this time. ____________________________________________________________________________________

5. The project is due next Friday. The day (when) the project is due is next Friday. (or) Next Friday is the day when the project is due. We must meet the deadline at five o’clock tomorrow afternoon. ____________________________________________________________________________________