Re: Clefts and Pseudoclefts

Jim Grossmann asked about clefts and pseudoclefts:

Both are constructions which serve to focus (cleft) a
particular constituent in the clause.  Clefts have the
form "It BE X WH/that...", where BE is a form of the
copula, X is the clefted constituent, and WH stands for
any wh-phrase.  Examples:

  "It was John who I met at the party"
  "It's coffee that I can't drink"
  "It's on Monday that we should leave"

Pseudoclefts have the form "WH ... BE X" or "X BE
WH ...":

   "John is who I met at the party"
   "Coffee is what I can't drink"
   "Monday is when we should leave"

   "What I really can't drink is coffee"
   "What I really want to do is get out of here"

There are some interesting differences between clefts
and pseudoclefts.  With clefts, but not pseudoclefts, the
non-clefted part of the sentence may be introduced by "that":

   "It is chocolate that I love most of all"
   * "Chocolate is that I love most of all"
   (cf. "Chocolate is what I love most of all")

Also, it is possible to pseudocleft verb phrases, but (in
Standard English) it is not possible to cleft them:

   "What I really want to do is go to sleep"
   ?? "It is go to sleep that I really want to do"

Matt.