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Bamtori Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
It
Hi,
ex) What is it that you do? // what is it that you want?
The above sentence and this one, "What do you do? // What do you want?", do they mean the same?
And can the "that" relative clause define the "it"? I thought that it can only define nouns, not pronouns like it or that. Thanks!
ex) What is it that you do? // what is it that you want?
The above sentence and this one, "What do you do? // What do you want?", do they mean the same?
And can the "that" relative clause define the "it"? I thought that it can only define nouns, not pronouns like it or that. Thanks!
Top answer
Bamtori The above sentence and this one, "What do you do? ", do they mean the same? Yes.
- Bamtori The above sentence and this one, "What do you do?
- ", do they mean the same?
- Yes.
- They are the question forms of cleft sentences.
- It is X that you do.
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1 Answers
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BamtoriThe above sentence and this one, "What do you do? // What do you want?", do they mean the same?Yes. They are the question forms of cleft sentences.
It is X that you do. It is X that you want.
that refers back to X, which is called the highlighted element.
If you use the search box, you can find posts on cleft sentences.
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