Cleft and pseudo cleft sentences(All (that) I did was touch the window, and it broke.)

Question

Hello all,Why the following example(A) as a cleft sentence is correct but we can't use the  sentence (B)?As I have learned,  we can only use 'pronoun, noun, gerund, or infinitive' , not the base form of verb (help) after noun clause.A: "All (that) I did was touch the window, and it broke."B: "What makes me feel happy is help the poor."  *********************************************************************************Are these following sentences correct grammatically and logically?All (that) I did was (to) touch the window, and it broke.All (that) I did was touch the window, and it broke.All (that) I did was touching the window, and it brokeWhat makes me feel happy is to help the poor.What makes me feel happy is helping the poor.What makes me feel happy is  help the poor.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Mickey Mouse 8241As I have learned after noun clause, we can only use 'pronoun, noun, gerund, or infinitive' , not the base form of verb (help).

Your sentence is incorrectly punctuated. That makes it nonsense.

As I have learned, (comma required!) after a noun clause we can only use a 'pronoun, noun, gerund, or infinitive' , not the base form of verb (help).

A "All (that) I did was touch the window, and it broke." Good.

B "What makes me feel happy is help the poor." No.

All (that) I did was touching the window, and it broke. No.

What makes me feel happy is to help the poor. Good

What makes me feel happy is helping the poor. Good

All I did was X.

X must be a single, specific action..

A.  I touched the window. (This is a single, momentary event.)
B.  I helped mother wash the dishes. (This is a single event over specific period of time.)
C.  I am touching the glass. (This is not a single, momentary event. It expresses an action carried out over an indefinite period of time.)
D. I am helping the poor. (This is not a single, momentary event. It expresses an action carried out over an indefinite period of time.)

So we can use A and B as the subject complement in the sentence "All I did was ...."

Why are you complaining? All I did was help mother wash the dishes!
How did the glass break? All I did was touch it!

What makes me happy is X.

In this sentence, X must be an action that happens over a period of time.

 What makes me happy is touching the glass and not breaking it. 
 What makes me happy is helping mother wash the dishes and helping the poor, too.

Cleft and pseudo cleft sentences(All (that) I did was touch the window, and it broke.)

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