READING & USE OF ENGLISH: Part 1
READING & USE OF ENGLISH: Part 2
READING & USE OF ENGLISH: Part 3
READING & USE OF ENGLISH: Part 4
Stuff

What Happened Was, What Happens Is…

When you want to emphasise an event or sequence of events, you can also use a cleft sentence which starts with What happens is (that)… or What happened was (that)… 

Take the following examples:

  • The men entered the building before breaking into a number of different apartments = What happened was the men entered the building before breaking into a number of apartments.
  • When doing jury service, you normally arrive on a Monday morning and wait for your name to be called = What happens when you do jury service is you normally arrive on a Monday morning and wait for your name to be called.

In the following exercise, drag the words into the correct boxes so that the second sentence has the same meaning as the first but includes a cleft clause.

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