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Hans51 Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

This is Hunley we are talking about.

This is the CIA. This is Hunley we are talking about.

I saw the sentence in a movie and I was wondering if This should change to It like It is Hunley we are talking about.

Isn't this a it-that-cleft sentence? Or is this also a fixed expression?

And 'that' is also omitted. it is okay to omit 'that' in in-that-cleft sentence?

What do you native English speakers think? Thank you so much as usual.
  

Top answer

The two given sentences are correct. This is actually elliptical (ellipsis is very frequently encountered in English). The complete sentences might be something like: "This is the CIA, not the PTA.

— Anonymous

  • The two given sentences are correct.
  • This is actually elliptical (ellipsis is very frequently encountered in English).
  • The complete sentences might be something like: "This is the CIA, not the PTA.
  • " The words "not the PTA" and "not a PTA chairperson" are omitted and are understood from the context - the point here being that this is a dangerous organization and a dangerous person, not some innocuous organization and some harmless person.
  • " would be grammatical but completely wrong for this situation.
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1 Answers
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The two given sentences are correct. This is actually elliptical (ellipsis is very frequently encountered in English). The complete sentences might be something like:

"This is the CIA, not the PTA. This is Hunley we are talking about, not a PTA chairperson."

The words "not the PTA" and "not a PTA chairperson" are omitted and are understood from the context - the point here be
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