Clefts & Inversion

Article excerpt · target grammar marked

Not only did the band survive the making of Rumours; they went on to tour it for two years. What sustained them, by most accounts, was a shared belief that what they were making together was worth the cost. Rarely had a group of people with so much reason to fall apart held together so completely inside a creative project.

Grammar Reference · Clefts & Inversion

It-cleft

Used to emphasise a specific element. It was the tension that shaped the record. — shifts focus to the highlighted noun.

Wh-cleft

Fronts the key information. What the band needed was a shared purpose. — subject position carries maximum emphasis.

Inversion: negative

Invert subject and auxiliary after negative adverbials. Never before had they worked under such pressure. — formal and emphatic.

Common error

Rarely they worked like this. ✗ → Rarely did they work like this. ✓ — do/did required with main verbs.

01Exercise 1 — Form · Write the Correct Form

Clefts & Inversion

1.The band's shared history ... what gave the music its emotional depth.

2. ... Christine McVie who first suggested they record the album despite everything.

3. ... a group held together so well during such a painful creative process.

4. ... the tour ended when the tension between the members finally became unmanageable.

5.The thing ... the recording sessions was the complete lack of false harmony.

6. ... survive the recording; they went on to tour for two years.

02Exercise 2 — Find and Correct the Error

find the error · rewrite the sentence

1.It was the tension that it made the album so extraordinary.

2.What the band needed it was a shared sense of purpose.

3.Rarely they had worked under such emotional pressure.

4.Not only they survived the sessions, but they also toured the album.

5.It was because of the conflict that it gave the music its weight.

6.Hardly they had begun recording when the personal tensions surfaced.

7.What made the music powerful, it was the honesty of the performances.

8.No sooner the tour began than audiences recognised the emotional truth in every song.

03Exercise 3 — About You

in your notebook

Personalise: complete five sentences about yourself using the target grammar.

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